


IT: The Story of Eddie and Richie

by siarc_a_botel



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Because Stephen and Andy can suck it, Blood and Injury, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Myra who?, Past Memories, Plenty of swearing, Retelling, Richie and Eddie have always been in love, Sexy Times, Together as teens, Young Losers and Adult Losers, some nsfw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-02-22 13:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 85,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22283656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siarc_a_botel/pseuds/siarc_a_botel
Summary: Richie buried his face in Eddie’s neck, shutting his eyes tight as if that would make it less real, make him stay right where he was. Eddie did the same, having to go up on his tip-toes to plant a soft kiss on the skin between Richie’s neck and shoulder. He felt the older boy sigh, holding him tighter if possible.“I don’t want to go.” Eddie whispered. “I want to stay with you, Richie.”“I know, Eds.” Richie whispered back, and Eddie could have sworn he heard his voice break as he said his name. “I don’t want you to go either.”(A retelling of IT: Chapter II, Reddie style)
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 9
Kudos: 89





	1. The Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey losers. Thanks for giving my fic a read. It's IT chapter 2 retold the way it should have been... because we all know Eddie and Richie should have been together from the start, man. 
> 
> I'm not the best writer, and suck at English, but I had to write this cos that film screwed me up and I refuse to believe Eddie, my boy Spaghetti man, died. Fuck you Stephen. 
> 
> I'll try and update as much as I can, but can't promise anything. But do enjoy!

_August 21 st, 1993_

_“EDDIE! HEY!”_

_Eddie dumped the rather heavy rucksack into the boot of his mother’s car, cringing as the stuff at the bottom made a loud clank. He hadn’t heard the shout of his name from down the road, too preoccupied by the mounds of bags and suitcases taking up all the space in the car, and the distracting bangs and rumbles from the men hauling the furniture into the moving van. Not to mention his mother was yelling at said men, worried for her poor dressing table and the hundred-year-old armchair she spent most of her day sitting in._

_Eddie sighed heavily, yanking the trunk’s door shut with an echoing slam. He’d known this day was coming for a while, two months to be exact. But it didn’t make it any easier. He was leaving Derry for good, moving down to New York, far away from his hometown. First Beverly had moved away just days after the Pennywise incident, then Bill less than a year later, closely followed by Ben and Stan a year after that, with only Mike, Richie and himself left behind. And now, it was Eddie’s turn._

_“EDDIE!”_

_This time Eddie heard it, the voice calling him close by. He quickly turned around to see Richie sprinting his way, coming to an abrupt halt right in front of him, face flushed and gasping for air._

_“Eds!” Richie breathed out, putting a hand to his chest as he tried to catch his breath. “Fuck, I thought I’d missed you!”_

_Eddie looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. “I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye to you, asshole!”_

_“I know.” Richie said so quietly, Eddie almost missed it. And just like that, there was silence between them._

_Surprisingly, Richie wasn’t saying a word, and Eddie looked down to the floor and started counting the splatters of mud on the pathway. Being there, in front of Eddie, it suddenly hit Richie that this was it. Eddie was leaving. He was leaving and there was nothing he could do about it. So, he did the only thing he wanted to in that moment, and enveloped Eddie in his arms._

_Eddie gasped in surprised as Richie pulled him close, hugging him so tight against himself that he could hardly move his arms to wrap around the taller boy’s waist. Richie buried his face in Eddie’s neck, shutting his eyes tight as if that would make it less real, make him stay right where he was. Eddie did the same, having to go up on his tip-toes to plant a soft kiss on the skin between Richie’s neck and shoulder. He felt the older boy sigh, holding him tighter if possible._

_“I don’t want to go.” Eddie whispered. “I want to stay with you, Richie.”_

_“I know, Eds.” Richie whispered back, and Eddie could have sworn he heard his voice break as he said his name. “I don’t want you to go either.”_

_“Can we just run away?” Eddie said with a huff, as Richie began running a hand gently through his hair. “Or I could come with you? You’re moving away in a week too, I could come with you.”_

_Richie sighed himself, pulling back a little to look at the smaller boy, but still holding him as close as he could. “What, and have your mom chase us down with a torch and pitchfork?”_

_Eddie tried to smile at Richie’s stupid joke, but failed miserably. “You’re not helping, dumbass.”_

_Richie just grinned, kissing his forehead. “I did promise I’d come visit you in a few months, remember?” he said, moving his hands to wrap around Eddie’s waist instead. “As soon as me and the rents are settled in in Chicago, I’m driving my ass all the way over to New York to visit your mom.”_

_“Very fucking funny.” Eddie snorted, as Richie chuckled to himself. “You’re such a dick, Trashmouth.”_

_“But I’m your dick.” Richie said, pausing, as he considered his words. “Wait, that sounded weird.”_

_Eddie did laugh this time, which earned a grin from Richie. “Beep beep, Richie.” He said softly, laughing a little more as he hid his face in Richie’s chest. He couldn’t help it._

_“Fuck,” Richie groaned, resting his chin upon Eddie’s head. He was so close to making one of his short jokes, but decided it was a bad idea to ruin the mood. “I’m really going to miss you, Eddie Spaghetti.”_

_“I’m going to miss you too.” Eddie mumbled into his shirt. “And don’t call me that, fuckface.”_

_Richie grinned to himself. “My apologies, dear sir.” He said in the worst English accent, even he had to admit his accents weren’t getting any better._

_“Eddie!”_

_Richie and Eddie almost jumped out of their skins as Eddie’s mother screeched from the front porch, hands on her hips and the deadliest glare pointed right at Richie._

_“Two minutes!” she squealed, before spinning around and popping back into the house._

_“Damn,” Richie muttered, tutting. “I only have two minutes to fuck your mom!”_

_Eddie huffed loudly, his arms dropping from Richie’s waist to cross over his chest. “Well, there’s one thing I’m not going to miss.” He said, glaring at the other boy._

_“Oh, come on, Eds.” Richie grinned cheekily, pulling Eddie back in, who was adamant he wasn’t giving in to him, keeping his hands to himself. Richie just snaked his arms around him, kissing down his neck. “You know you’re the only one I’ve ever… you know…” he pulled back to smirk at the younger boy, wiggling his eyebrows up and down._

_“Richie!” Eddie blushed as red as a tomato, shoving his chest. “Not so loud!”_

_“What?” Richie laughed, loving how much Eddie was blushing at the mere mention of sex. “You telling me you didn’t enjoy last night?”_

_Eddie blushed even more if it were possible, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at the thought of what they’d done the night before. It was their first time together, they’re first time ever, he couldn’t help but feel a little flustered about it._

_“Yes, I enjoyed it!” He said as quietly as he could, paranoid that his mother could hear him through the thick walls of the house. You never knew with that woman. “Just shut up!”_

_“Maybe we can have a repeat of it in six months, huh?” Richie carried on, making Eddie squirm in his arms. “What do ya say, Eds?”_

_“Alright, alright!” Eddie groaned. “Just shut up already! I swear if my mom found out about last night, she’d literally lock me indoors until I’m at least forty!”_

_“Oh, it’ll be like a fairy-tale!” Richie snickered, stepping back and getting down on his knees, taking Eddie’s hands in his. Eddie looked around in panic, making sure nobody was watching, thankful the moving van had just left. “Edpunzel, Edpunzel, let down your hair!”_

_“Richie!” Eddie growled, yanking his boyfriend up off the floor with some difficulty. Richie was of course just laughing away. “Jesus, you’re so fucking embarrassing!”_

_“Oh, Eddie,” Richie sighed, holding Eddie’s hand to his lips and kissing the back of it. “You’re so sweet, did anyone ever tell you that?”_

_Eddie rolled his eyes, secretly loving the attention and affection he was getting from Richie. He was never one to express his feelings, but Richie, the little shit, knew exactly what made him happy._

_“Eddie!”_

_Once again the pair flinched at the high-pitched shout from Eddie’s mother, who was now practically stomping over to them, and if looks could kill, Richie would be six feet under by now. Eddie tried to pull his hand away from Richie who was holding his tight, but Richie was having none of it, he didn’t give a damn if Eddie’s mom hated it when they were remotely two inches apart let alone touching, he wasn’t giving up his last few seconds with his boyfriend for anyone._

_“Hey, Mrs. K,” Richie grinned slyly at the big woman, noticing how furious she looked at their joined hands. “Come to give me my kiss goodbye?”_

_Eddie gawped at him as his mom growled Richie’s way, before she turned her attention to her son. “Eddie, it’s time to go! Get in the car.” She simply said, before giving her son’s boyfriend one last scowl, and headed for the driver’s side of the vehicle._

_“Damn,” Richie hummed, “Didn’t get my kiss.”_

_Eddie sent him his own glare this time. “What a shame.”_

_Richie laughed lightly, smiling down at his boyfriend. Except, this time, Eddie’s expression was different. He went from angry to upset in less than a second, and had to look away, not wanting their moment to end. Richie picked up on it, instantly turning Eddie to face him, and grabbing both sides of his face with his hands._

_“Hey,” Richie spoke softly, knowing it was no time for his daft jokes. “Come on, Eds, we’ll see each other in a few months. I’ve got your new address, I’ll write to you as soon as I’m settled into my new place, yeah? Unlike those other dweebs who haven’t even phoned us since they left!”_

_Eddie barely nodded, his brown eyes tearing up. Richie hated seeing the other boy cry, it wasn’t something that happened frequently, but when it did, Richie just wanted to make it stop. He quickly gathered Eddie in his arms one last time, the two holding each other as firmly as possible._

_When Richie pulled away he again took Eddie’s face in his hands, and said in all seriousness, Eddie clinging to his shirt. “I love you, Eddie.”_

_“I love you too, Richie.” Eddie said, voice breaking, as one single tear slipped down his cheek._

_Richie smiled, leaning down to plant his lips on Eddies, kissing him gently. Eddie gripped his shirt even tighter, pouring everything into that kiss, hoping Richie understood just how much he was going to need him over the next few months._

_“EDDIE!”_

_The couple sighed into the kiss, slowly pulling apart. They didn’t even look over to Eddie’s mother this time, knowing she was probably watching their every move through the front mirror, gritting her teeth and wishing she had her hands around Richie’s neck for putting his filthy mouth on her boy. Richie grinned at the thought._

_“What’s so funny?” Eddie sniffled._

_“Nothing, Eds.” Richie smiled, pecking him on the lips once more. “You’d better go, before your mom explodes. What a mess that would make, huh?”_

_Eddie smiled this time at the other boy’s joke, nodding in reply. The two hesitantly stepped away from one another, still holding hands, reluctant to let go. Richie gave Eddie’s hand a squeeze, suddenly feeling like his chest was being stomped on, and his entire world was freaking ending._

_“So,” Eddie said, shuffling his feet. “I’ll see you in a few months?”_

_“Yeah,” Richie grinned, trying not to look upset about the situation, knowing it would only make Eddie feel even worse. “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.”_

_Eddie felt himself blush at the nickname, but nodded, slowly letting Richie’s hand slip from his own. He couldn’t look at him as he turned towards the car, head hung low, watching his own feet as he took one step after the other towards the passenger’s side. Eddie reached for the door handle, and unhurriedly opened the car door. It was only then that he had an idea._

_“Eddie, hurry up!” His mother scolded, sounding agitated as usual._

_“Wait,” Eddie said, reaching into his jean pocket. “One second.”_

_“Eddie!” His mother called again, but he ignored her, making his way back to Richie._

_Richie looked confused for a second, as Eddie almost jogged over. “Well, those few months went by pretty fast, hey?”_

_“Shut up.” Eddie murmured, as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his inhaler. “Here.”_

_Richie stared at it, even more confused. He was pretty sure he wasn’t asthmatic. “Think you’re going to need that, Eds.”_

_“No, you idiot.” Eddie puffed, rolling his eyes for good measure. He took Richie’s hand and slapped the inhaler into his palm, making sure he held onto it. “Keep it, I want you to remember me! It’s the spare one you always kept on you for emergencies, and you gave it to me during my attack last week, remember?”_

_Richie turned the plastic object in his hand, nodding as he thought back to last Tuesday when Eddie had almost lost consciousness after forgetting his inhaler at home, and Richie had ran to his backpack to pull out the spare. He’d always kept a spare inhaler with him since they were younger, constantly worried that one day Eddie would forget his own, and he’d be in deep trouble if he did._

_“Thanks, Eddie.” He grinned, thankful he had something of Eddie’s that he could keep close. Then, he had his own thought. It wasn’t exactly fair that he had something of Eddie’s, whilst Eddie didn’t have anything of his. So, he pondered something his boyfriend could have that would remind him of himself, and looked down at his bright, extravagant Hawaiian shirt. “Perfect!”_

_Eddie watched as he shrugged off the piece of clothing, and held it out to him. “Your shirt?”_

_“Yeah!” Richie snorted, waving it around before Eddie took it. “Would you prefer a piece of my hair? A box of my boogers? A jar of spit?”_

_Eddie scrunched his nose in disgust, holding the shirt close like a lifeline. “That’s revolting, jackass, I think I’ll take the hideous shirt.”_

_Richie punched the air in victory, slipping the inhaler into his pocket, and giving it a tap. Eddie smiled, before hearing his mother start to yell inside the car, rambling on about demon boys and bad influences._

_“Guess this is goodbye, again.” Eddie sighed heavily. “Better go, I think she really will explode otherwise.”_

_Richie chuckled, not doubting it for one second. “Yeah, hop to it old chap!” he said in his lame accent again._

_“Bye Richie,” Eddie leaned in and kissed the older boy’s cheek, smiling shyly. “Love you.”_

_“Love you too.” Richie smiled, feeling the kiss tingle on his skin._

_Eddie quickly got into the car, before he could change his mind and decide that yeah, he was going to run away with Richie, screw it. As soon as his butt hit the seat he slammed the car door shut, ignoring his mother’s constant babbling, pretty sure she was just going on about Richie and his pervy ways anyway. It didn’t take long before Mrs. Kaspbrak was starting the car, and getting it into gear._

_Eddie looked out the window, to see Richie standing in the same spot. He smiled over to him, one hand held over his pocket where the inhaler sat, and the other sending Eddie a small wave. Eddie smiled back, trying to make it less miserable, but failing completely. He didn’t even get a chance to wave before the car sped off, tyres screeching and scraping against the ground._

_And just like that, the two seventeen-year olds were torn apart. Eddie just about saw Richie in the wing mirror of the car, before he completely vanished out of sight. He felt his stomach drop, his gaze moving to the shirt he still held firmly in his hands. Eddie could feel his eyes begin to water again, after being with Richie almost everyday since they were six, it felt like his heart was being ripped out. He pulled the shirt up, burying his face in the fabric, smelling cheap aftershave, dirt and cigarettes, and it didn’t take long before he was sobbing into it. He didn’t even notice his mother going silent._

_Back at the Kaspbrak’s old home, minutes went by, but Richie still stood in the same spot. Hoping it was all just a bad dream, and all the Losers were still in Derry, and Eddie was merely going for another doctor’s appointment. The only hope he held onto was that months from now, when he’d make his own way out of the town, he’d get to see Eddie again, the Losers would have a reunion, and everything would be back to the way it was._

_Little did they know, that a few weeks later, Eddie would wonder why an ugly Hawaiian shirt was hanging in his wardrobe, and Richie would have no idea why there was an inhaler in his bedside table. They would simply forget, and carry on, as if the Losers Club never existed._

_+++++++++++++_

September 2016

“Richie, you’ve got a call. Make it quick.”

Richie, who was minutes away from performing in front of hundreds, was rudely interrupted from his snack break by his boss, who shoved his phone in his face. He clumsily grabbed at it, throwing down the chocolate bar he’d been munching on.

“The fuck?” he stared at the phone like it was something dangerous. “Since when did you have my phone?” he patted his pockets, as if it was magically back in there.

“I took it so you’d stop reading the tabloids,” his manager sighed, fussing with the buttons on his shirt. “Jesus, you look like a damn wreck. Hurry up, you’re on in five!”

Richie rolled his eyes, ducking into a quiet spot behind a curtain to take the call. His manager hadn’t even told him who it was, but when he looked down at the screen, where it read ‘Derry, Maine’, he suddenly had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach for some odd reason. He slowly put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“ _Richie? Hey man, it’s Mike from Derry. Remember me?”_

“Mike from Derry?” Richie repeated, feeling like he knew that name, but it was like his brain was fogged up. “Huh?”

_“Look, I’ll just get straight to it, you need to come home, man. You need to come back to Derry.”_

Richie laughed nervously, wondering why he wanted to hang up so badly on this guy. “Why? What’s going on? This a joke?”

_“No Richie, it’s not. Don’t you remember the promise we all made? Things are starting up again, we need to-,”_

“Wait, wait, wait.” Richie cut in, starting to pace up and down, rubbing at his temples as a splitting headache began to form. “The fuck, man? What promise? I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

_“That’s the thing, Rich. Nobody else did too, Bill, Stan, Bev, probably Eddie when I-,”_

“Eddie?”

Richie felt his stomach twist in knots, his heart began to race, his palms began to sweat. Why did he suddenly feel like he was about to pass out?

“ _Richie? You there?”_

“I’ll be there.” Richie said, before hanging up, and sprinting for the fire exit.

His legs felt like jelly as he pushed through staff of the theatre, ignoring the shouts of his manager who was hot on his tail. As soon as he burst through the door to the back of the building, he bent over the railings of the fire escape, and threw up. He barely heard his manager run up behind up seconds later, because for some reason going home made him feel anxious, and all he could think was Eddie. Eddie. Eddie. Eddie. Who the fuck was Eddie?

++++++++++

Meanwhile, on the roads of New York, Eddie was driving through rush hour traffic, clutching the steering wheel in frustration, as his mother’s voice yammered on through the speakers of the car.

_“Eddie! You shouldn’t be out there, you could get into an accident! You never listen to your poor, old mother!”_

“Mom!” Eddie sighed, clenching his teeth. “Please, stop this. I drive down these roads everyday!”

_“What if you hydroplane, hm? You could die, Eddie!”_

“It stopped raining hours ago mom, the roads are dry.” Eddie practically growled, getting more and more agitated by the minute. It didn’t help when a taxi driver honked at him. “Hey asshole!” Eddie shrieked at him, as the taxi skidded away. “Learn how to drive!”

 _“Oh dear God, Eddie!_ ” His mother continued, thinking the worst. “ _Did you almost crash into someone?_ ”

“No!” Eddie bit down on his bottom lip hard, waving his free hand around in distress, as if his mother was right there and it would help get his point across. “Mommy, I am a risk analyst, it’s my job! So trust me when I say I am more likely to get into an accident talking on the phone, not from a rain shower!”

_“Eddie-,”_

“I’ve got to go!”

_“Eddie, don’t get hurt. I love you.”_

Eddie took a deep breath and grounded out, “Love you too.” Before he hung up, and put two hands to the wheel, gripping it with so much force it hurt.

He didn’t get much time to relax before his phone was ringing again. He looked over to the screen, and sucked in a breath as he read the words ‘Derry, Maine’, unexpectedly feeling like he was about to have an anxiety attack.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

_“Hey, it’s me, Mike.”_

Eddie frowned. “Mike who?”

_“From Derry.”_

Eddie felt himself tense, that word once again making him feel sick to the stomach, and he had no idea why. “Derry? Isn’t that… why are you calling?”

_“Listen, Eddie, you have to come home, it’s happening again.”_

“What’s happening again?” Eddie swallowed the lump in his throat, eyes wide and terrified, like something bad was about to happen.

_“You made a promise, remember? We all did. You, me, Bill, Bev, Ben, Stan and Richie.”_

Eddie whipped his head down to look at the screen at the mention of the last name. He could feel his heart hammering away in his chest, as he dug his nails into the leather of the steering wheel, his hands shaking.

“Richie.” He barely whispered.

He didn’t notice the red light up ahead, as a yellow cab went barrelling into the side of his jeep.

_“EDDIE? EDDIE, YOU ALRIGHT?”_

Eddie could hear Mike calling his name, but his mind was on one thing. Richie. He knew that name. But who the fuck was Richie?


	2. The Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading dudes! this one's a bit rushed but I hope you enjoy anyway <3

September 2016

Eddie slammed the door to his rental car with little force, sighing at the thought of his mangled jeep he’d left back home in his garage, waiting to be thrown to the scraps. Thinking about the accident instantly made him remember why he was there, and he felt a sudden chill go down his back, as he turned around to face the building he’d parked outside. The yellow lit up sign for the Jade of the Orient restaurant flickered annoyingly once or twice, as if taunting Eddie, telling him to get on inside.

He fiddled with his keys in his hand for a short while, just watching the lights that hummed quietly, the only sound in the half empty car park. Part of him was dreading going inside for a reason he couldn’t explain, and yet, the other half of him was looking forward to seeing his friends again. Friends he’d completely forgot he had, and hadn’t seen since he was a teenager. If he was being honest, he couldn’t really remember them, not one single one of them, all he’d gotten was their names and some vague memory of them, like what they used to wear or sound like.

And Richie. For some reason he remembered him the most. His name for one was familiar, and had his heart racing. Not to mention the small, barely there memories that played around in his head ever since he’d had the phone call. Lame jokes, thick-rimmed glasses, sneakers that had holes in both soles, and thick, wavy, black hair that was always sticking up on all ends and never brushed. Eddie smiled to himself without thinking, sliding his free hand into his coat pocket, and clutching in a square of material he’d hid in there.

Taking a deep breath, and rubbing the fabric in his pocket between his finger and thumb, Eddie stepped onto the pavement and made his way to the door. Once inside, Eddie took a good look around, noticing the place wasn’t as empty as the car park made it out to be. More than half the tables were taken, and waiters were going from one place to the other like they were in a hurry, the sound of the customers faint chattering filing the room as soft music played from the speakers. Eddie jumped a little as someone came up behind him and spoke without prior notice.

“Sir, can I help you?”

Eddie smiled politely at the Asian lady, who sent him a smile in return. “Uh, yeah, um… I’m here to meet some friends… uh, Mike Hanlon?”

The woman perked up then, clasping her hands together as if she’d just had a thought. “Yes, of course. They’re just through here, sir.” She said, pointing her hand in the direction of the rather fancy entryway to a private dining set up on the other side of the room.

“Thanks.” Eddie mumbled, as he was being led over. As he passed the buffet table, eyeing up the greasy, oily foods, he walked in step with the woman and had a thought. “Do you do food here that’s dairy free?”

“Oh,” the polite waitress smiled sweetly up at Eddie, nodding. “Yes, we have a selection of dairy free, do you have dietary needs?”

“Uh, yeah, actually…” Eddie then started to list off all the foods he couldn’t eat, ticking them off with his fingers, he didn’t want to walk out of there with a bloated stomach and a swollen tongue. “There’s also certain vegetables,” he went on, as the lady nodded and took note. “… soy, anything that has egg in it, uh, gluten, and if I eat a cashew I could…” Eddie by then looked up and his eyes widened. “…realistically die.”

There, standing on the other side of the fancy dining area, was Bill and Mike. A flood of memories suddenly hit him, of bike rides, movie nights at Mike’s farm, Bill teaching them how to build a bird house to hang in their back garden. Mike used to race him to the store for fun, told him stories about all the animals he’d had growing up, and taught him how to make the best chocolate chip cookies his grandmother made. Bill was the one who showed him how easy it was to ride a bike for the first time, he would always help him with his maths homework, and once lent him a load of VHS tapes to cheer him up. He remembered them.

“Holy shit.”

“Eddie!” Bill was the first to practically run towards him, arms open and a big smile on his face. There was no doubt in his mind that the man who’d just walked in was Eddie Kaspbrak, he hadn’t changed one bit.

Eddie didn’t have time to react before he was being swept up in a hug, almost being squeezed by the strength of it. “Bill?” Eddie questioned, like he was doubting his own memories of his friend. “Wow, uh… what?”

Bill chuckled as he pulled back, giving his shoulder a quick pat, before Mike stepped in to give Eddie his own hug. His was just as bone crushing, over twenty years of not seeing each other obviously being poured out into it. Eddie wouldn’t complain, except he literally couldn’t breathe, and damn, Mike was stronger than he remembered.

“Okay,” Eddie murmured, slapping Mike on the back. “Kinda need oxygen here, Mike.”

“Oh,” Mike laughed lightly, finally letting him go. “Sorry. It’s just so good to see you, Eddie.”

“Yeah,” Eddie let out his own laugh, still in utter shock and awe from the whole situation. “It’s good to see you guys too.”

Meanwhile, out in the parking lot, Richie sat inside his own rental car, staring at the steering wheel like he was in some kind of trance. Since he’d parked up not long ago, he hadn’t known what to do next. Of course, he had to get out and go inside, but his legs were refusing to move, and his stomach was turning from the mere thought of facing his childhood friends. Mainly Eddie. Richie groaned, that name making his insides feel weird again. Ever since Mike had mentioned that damn name, it’s all he’d been thinking about.

Sure, he’d remembered a lot of things about his other friends, their hair colours, their clothes, heck, even their shoe sizes. But for some reason, he couldn’t remember much about Eddie. All he saw when he thought of him was, red shorts, a stupid fanny pack, an inhaler, and big, brown eyes. Why he thought of those things, he had no idea. Richie let out a heavy sigh as he let his head fall back against the headrest, sticking a hand in his pocket to play with the object inside.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he could just about see some movement. Moving his gaze around, he was hit with recollections of poetry he couldn’t understand, sneaky cigarette breaks at school, and toasting marshmallows in the middle of the woods in the middle of the day, as right next to his car were two of his friends he hadn’t seen in so long. Ben and Beverly, at least he thought it was Ben, hugging like they hadn’t seen each other in a while. Which of course, they hadn’t.

Richie snorted to himself, suddenly thinking fuck it, and quickly opened the car door to step outside. If he didn’t do it now, he was going to run away like a cowardly idiot and regret it for the rest of his life. Hands in his pockets, Richie strolled over to his friends, and stopped right beside them. His first thought was, holy shit, that can’t be Ben? His second thought was, what kind of moisturising crème did these two use because he needed some.

“Wow. You two look amazing.” He said as they broke apart to look his way, both surprised to see him. “What the fuck happened to me?” he spoke more to himself than the other two, because well, they were practically supermodels and Richie, he hadn’t even brushed his hair today.

Ben and Beverly grinned at his ridiculous greeting, not really surprised those were the first things that came out of his mouth. Richie just let out a short laugh, thinking that this was the weirdest shit he’d ever experienced, before taking a few more steps towards the pair.

“Richie,” he told them, just encase they’d forgotten. “Hey.”

“Yeah,” Ben laughed happily, as he came in for a hug. From the big glasses, scruffy hair and comedic timing it was pretty obvious who it was. “It’s Ben.”

The two men laughed it off, as they gave each other a quick tap on the back. Richie still dazed about the whole thing, stepped back to look at Beverly, who without hesitating held out her arms.

Richie grinned, “Hi.”

“Hey!” Beverly laughed softly as Richie held her in his arms, swinging them back and forth. The three laughed at his silliness.

With that reunion out of the way, the trio then made their way inside the restaurant, already asking each other all sorts of questions. Ben asking about where they lived now, Beverly curious about why they hadn’t kept in touch, Richie just wanted to know what flavour dumplings they sold there, since he wasn’t a fan of the pork ones.

“Hello,” a young woman approached them, giving a slight bow. “Welcome, table for three?”

“Oh,” Beverly quickly turned her attention to the waitress, as Richie began listing the top five dumplings in the world to Ben. “No, we uh, we have a reservation, under Mike Hanlon?”

The waitress nodded in understanding. “Right this way.”

“Thank you.”

They were led to the other end of the restaurant, into what Richie would call, the gangsters hang out, which had Beverly rolling her eyes but smiling softly at how she’d missed her friends’ silly humour. The waitress directed them through an archway into their dining area, where a round table sat in the middle, surrounded by fish tanks and decorative walls. But what caught their attention was the three men standing with their backs to them, talking quietly at the back of the room.

Richie’s eyes immediately went to the man in the maroon jacket, who laughed at something the other said, and his palms began to sweat again. He didn’t need to be told twice who it was, because as soon as he decided to pick up the drumstick and whack the giant gong on the table next to him, the three men turned around and Eddie looked right at him.

Richie almost stuttered as he practically shouted, “This meeting of the Losers club has officially begun.”

Within seconds everyone was coming together to hug and greet each other, Beverly heading straight for Eddie, as Ben and Mike laughed ecstatically as they shook hands and grabbed each other’s shoulders. But Richie, he couldn’t move. And as Beverly hugged Eddie, he was hardly hugging back, because he only had eyes for Richie.

“Eddie, it’s so good to see you.” Beverly said, as she pulled away, smiling sweetly at him, noticing the look in the man’s face before quietly moving on to greet Bill without a word. Eddie the whole time just nodded, wondering why the fuck he felt like he’d just been hit by a train.

It seemed like Richie was getting the same reaction. Because he stood stock still just yards in front of Eddie, gawping at him, like he’d just seen a ghost. The other Losers hadn’t seemed to notice their strange behaviour (except for Beverly of course, who was still pretending she hadn’t), as they were too preoccupied with Ben’s story of how he was stuck between a crying toddler, and a snoring old aged pensioner on the plane. So Eddie made the first move, and took slow, tentative steps towards the older man.

The closer he got, the more he seemed to remember. Bad jokes, that was Richie’s thing, they were the worst jokes Eddie had ever heard. The oversize, thick glasses, because quick frankly he was as blind as a bat without them. Holey shoes, because Richie loved his one pair of old sneakers, they were comfortable and he’d worn them when he kicked Bowers in the nuts. And his hair, exactly how it always was, a mess.

Richie too felt like he’d been bowled over with the memories of Eddie, one thing after the other came back to him. Those red shorts that he always wore in the summer, because Eddie loved the colour red and he liked the little rainbow on the side. His fanny pack, because ‘shut up Richie, it’s where I store all my essentials, I’m not walking around with a fucking backpack all day!’ The inhaler that Eddie used on a daily basis, he had the worst anxiety attacks, and it helped calm him. And those eyes, big and brown, and beautiful. Just how Richie remembered. Eddie hadn’t changed much at all, and it made his stomach flutter.

“Richie?”

The comedian blinked once or twice, before noticing how close Eddie had gotten. Eddie. He was right there, standing centimetres away, so close he could touch him if he reached out. “Eds.”

_September 1980_

_“Stop it! Give it back!”_

_“Stop it, give it back!” Sam Buttkins mocked little Eddie, as he waved the colouring pencil in front of his face. “Make me, stupid!”_

_Eddie’s bottom lip quivered as Sam laughed at him, continuing to swing the pencil back and forth between his fingers._

_“Aw,” Sam snickered. “Eddie is going to cry like a baby!”_

_“No I’m not!” Eddie sniffled, as tears began to fall on their own accord. “Give my pencil back!”_

_“No!” Sam yelled, just as Eddie tried snatching it back, but lost his balance on the chair and went tumbling to the floor._

_Eddie cried as his knees scrapped the ground, Sam laughing at him the entire time. Eddie hated him, he hated Sam enormously that he wished he would disappear. He began sobbing, covering his eyes with his hands, as Sam teased him from above, not even sorry that he’d made the younger boy hurt his knees._

_“Eddie is a cry baby! Ha ha!”_

_“Hey!”_

_Sam jumped so much he dropped the pencil, Eddie getting surprised too, peeking through his fingers to see who’d shouted their way. He could just make out a tall, skinny boy, with black hair and the biggest glasses he’d ever seen. The kid was glaring so hard at Sam, his face was almost as red as a tomato._

_“Go away Richie!” Sam growled at the other kid, who was having none of it._

_Richie, who balled his hands into fists, stormed over to Sam. “Get the hell away from him, you big, fat bastard!”_

_Eddie gasped at the bad word coming out of his mouth, his hands dropping slightly to watch the scene unfolding. Sam wasn’t fazed, he only crossed his arms over his chest, and turned to the taller boy._

_“No!” he sulked. “Make me!”_

_Richie shrugged. “Okay.”_

_And with that, Richie took a swing at him, hitting Sam square in the nose. Sam yelped at the sudden shot of pain, sending him flying to the floor, right next to Eddie. Eddie, who was wide-eyed and gaping down at the bully, couldn’t believe what had just happened._

_“Now,” Richie directed at Sam, who by now was crying and holding his bloodied nose. “Stay away from this kid, or I’m going to have to do it again, you hear?”_

_Sam nodded frantically, before he was getting on his feet and sprinting away. Eddie stared down at the gross blob of blood that was now on the floor, wondering how the teachers were going to clean it up, before a hand came into his view. Eddie blinked a few times, quickly rubbing at his wet eyes and tear stained cheeks, as he looked up to see the boy Richie smiling down at him._

_“Don’t worry about him,” he said, as Eddie took his hand and let him pull him off the floor. “He’s just a meany, and is probably angry because he has the worst last name in history, he’ll get what’s coming to him as my daddy likes to say.”_

_Eddie sniffled, wiping his nose. “You’ll be in lots of trouble for that.”_

_“It’s okay, I’ve been in lots of trouble before.” Richie grinned. Before noticing the red, sore patches blossoming on Eddie’s knees. “Are you okay?”_

_Eddie nodded shyly, pouting at the state of his poor knees._

_“Here,” Richie hurriedly picked up the chair and guided Eddie into it, taking up his own seat beside him. “You should rest so your knees will get better.”_

_“Okay.” Eddie simply said, watching as Richie suddenly dove under the table. Eddie frowned, wondering what on earth he was up to now._

_Within seconds, Richie popped back up, sitting back in his chair. He smiled widely at Eddie, holding out a red pencil. Eddie’s frown turned up into a bright smile as Richie handed him the pencil, quickly taking it and holding it tight, scared that another bully was going to steal it. Although, he had the feeling Richie wouldn’t let that happen._

_“Thank you.” Eddie said happily, wishing he could be as brave as this kid._

_“No problem.” Richie shrugged, turning to the picture in front of Eddie. “Can I colour with you?”_

_Eddie nodded enthusiastically. He’d never been asked to colour with anyone before, in fact, for the first few weeks he’d been there none of the other kids had asked to play with him yet. Eddie grinned from ear to ear as Richie took out the green pencil from the box, and started to draw on the piece of paper Eddie slid across to him._

_“I’m Richie by the way.” The older kid said seconds later._

_“I’m Eddie.”_

_“Eddie Spaghetti!” Richie chuckled, grinning madly._

_Eddie only pouted, and glared at his new friend. “Don’t call me that.”_

_“Okay, Eddie Spaghetti.”_

_Richie wasn’t phased in the slightest._

“Fuck.” Richie let out in barely a whisper, because apparently the man standing in front of him was a hell of a lot more important than he’d thought. And every single memory he’d had with Eddie was suddenly replaying in his mind like a film reel, reminding him of all that they’d been through together.

The pair were hit with recollections of laying in the grass in the summer, laughing at the funny shapes of clouds in the sky. Eddie having to get up at stupid o’clock in the morning to open his bedroom window, letting a dishevelled Richie climb through to join him on the bed so they could talk about comic books and video games. Richie passing notes to Eddie during English class in middle school, full of silly doodles of their boring professor, that always had Eddie laughing soundlessly to himself.

Then the more vivid memories. Of holding hands under the table at lunch time, Eddie blushing every time Richie ran his thumb along the back of his hand. Richie riding his bike down to the quarry with Eddie sitting behind him, his arms so tight around his waist like he was afraid he’d fall off. Splashing and shouting with the other Losers at the lake, before coming together and dunking one another under the surface, laughing and spluttering. Sharing kisses in secret behind Richie’s bedroom door, as they lay in his bed in the dark.

They remembered all of that, every single moment, and yet they both had no idea how to react. Richie still stood there awkwardly, hands in his pockets and mouth agape like a fish. Whilst Eddie fidgeted on the spot, looking at anything but Richie. The comedian didn’t know whether he should step forward and hug him, or shake his hand? Eddie quite frankly in the same boat.

They’d just found out they used to be boyfriends for Christ sake. _Boyfriends_. Not just that, but they’d been in love. They both knew it, they could feel it, remember it. In fact, the more Richie stared at Eddie, the more he realised, maybe he hadn’t even fallen _out_ of love for Eddie this whole time, he’d just _forgotten._ Well, fuck.

“Guys?”

Luckily for Richie and Eddie, they’d spent more time standing there looking like a couple of weirdos than actually talking to one another, so Bill butted in and took the next step for them. The two turned their gazes on Bill, still looking like a couple of deers in the headlights.

“You ready to sit?” Bill asked, sensing the tension between the pair. So did the rest of the Losers, who quietly took their seats, and didn’t say a thing, knowing it was best not to butt into their business and let them sort it out for themselves.

Eddie was first to make a move, and quickly took his seat next to Ben who put his arm around him for a rushed side hug. Richie was then left the choice of sitting on Eddie’s right, or leaving that chair for Stan. He hesitated for what felt like too long, taking small baby steps to the table, eyes darting from one chair to the other. Does he sit next to Eddie? Would that make it awkward? What in the actual fuck was happening? Thank God for Beverly, who saved his ass.

“Rich,” she said with a sweet smile, patting the chair beside her. “Come sit here, hurry, we’re fucking starving!”

Within half an hour, Richie and Eddie didn’t feel so awkward. Partly due to the fact that everyone was being loud and telling tales of their lives growing up in different parts of the country, and mostly due to the fact that every single one of them were either tipsy or completely wasted. That being Richie. The only way he was even going to be able to talk to Eddie was if he had some liquid courage.

By now the Losers had ordered a round of shots, and gave a big cheer to their reunion, before downing them in one go. Richie wrapped his lips around his tiny glass, and tossed the alcohol back with no hands, letting the glass slip out and clunk onto the table. He felt a trickle of it run down his chin, but couldn’t give a damn as he thought back to what Eddie had said minutes ago, and took that as a great opportunity to chat some more to the other man.

“So wait, Eddie,” Richie squinted, seeing a very blurry, very unamused Eddie looking his way. He giggled, before asking: “You’re still living with your mom?”

“Yeah,” Eddie rolled his eyes. He wasn’t as gone as Richie, but he was tipsy enough to forget what a crazy situation they were in. “Why’s that so fucking funny, dickwad?”

“Does she still tell you bedtime stories?” Richie asked, as the other Losers all shook their heads in amusement. The pair were bickering like an old married couple, just like they used to.

Eddie, of course, answered in his usual manner. “Fuck you, bro.” he said, pointing his chopstick at him.

Richie let out a laugh, and said it back, just about seeing the small smile that Eddie was desperately trying not to show. Richie counted that as a win.

“Alright,” Bill butted in, trying to save poor Eddie. “What about you, trashmouth? You living with anyone?”

The rest of the Losers laughed around the table, like the answer to that question was obvious. None of them could imagine anyone wanting to live with Richie Tozier, if his gross habits were still as gross as they were as a kid. Eddie had almost puked once when he found a sock under Richie’s bed that had mould growing on it.

“There’s no way he has a flatmate!” Bev declared, pretty sure about it.

Ben agreed. “If your dirty towel habits are still the same.”

“No, I am, I am.” Richie said very seriously, trying hard not to crack. “I got a flatmate a while ago.”

“Richie,” Bev snorted, sticking a dumping in her mouth. “I don’t believe it.”

“When?” Eddie asked. He really wanted to ask who, because at the back of his mind he wondered if it was someone that wasn’t _just_ a flatmate. Nobody had asked Richie if he was with anyone yet, and quite frankly, he didn’t really want to know.

“You didn’t know this?” Richie directed at Eddie, keeping a straight face. “Oh, you didn’t know I have a friend who stays over?”

“No!” Eddie said frustratingly, because Richie was totally winding him up and he was about to hit the bastard.

“Yeah, no, your mom stays over a few times a week for some fun, you know?”

The first thing that happened was Bill spitting his drink back into his glass, half of it spilling in his lap. The next thing was the entire table, minus Eddie of course, bursting into fits of laughter at Richie’s joke.

“Didn’t you wonder where she went off to in the evenings?” Richie said to Eddie with a shit eating grin, earning him a glare.

“He totally fell for it.” Mike laughed loudly, shaking his head.

Eddie huffed, bringing his green tea to his lips instead of the wine and taking a sip. “Fuck you.” He said to Richie once again, because damn it, why did he always fall for the mom jokes? It was like being thirteen all over again.

“Aw, but it’s very sweet, we have a great night.” Richie went on, making the rest snort and chuckle like a bunch of hyenas. “Sometimes we’ll sit on the sofa, she’ll put her arm around me, and she’ll whisper in my ear…” Richie then put on his best ewok impression just to spice things up a bit.

Miracles were happening, because not only were the Losers all laughing still, but even Eddie had let out a laugh at that one. Richie caught his eye, and the two shared a smile. Things were starting to feel pretty familiar, and Richie hadn’t felt happier in a long time.

That was until Mike had to bring up something an hour later, just after mentioning the absence of Stan, a little more teasing from Richie to Eddie, and downing a couple more drinks.

“So, guys.” Mike said, as everyone tucked into their last helpings of food, and had settled down a bit. It felt like the perfect opportunity for Mike to move on to the matter at hand. “Do you uh… do any of you remember your last days here in Derry?”

Like a switch had been flipped, everyone went silent, and the only sound around the room was that of the chatting diners on the other side of the wall. Mike eyed up every one of his friends, and could practically see the clogs turning in their head.

“I uh… I remember leaving Derry not long after I met you guys.” Bev said, putting down her chopsticks. “I moved to my aunts.”

“Yeah,” Bill nodded, remembering the whole gang waving her off as she hung out the window and yelled her goodbye. “I think I left about a year later.”

“Stan and I weren’t long after you.” Ben added. His last day in Derry wasn’t clear, but he does recall getting a big box of chocolates from Mike, and the three of them throwing him a going away sleepover the night before.

“How about you Eddie?” Mike turned to the younger man, who he noticed was gazing down into his glass of water, eyes wide and distant. “Eddie?”

Eddie almost jumped out of his skin. He blinked once or twice, before gazing up at his friends, every one of them looking at him like they were worried sick. As soon as he looked at Richie he suddenly couldn’t breathe, the comedian was just as wide-eyed and dazed as he was, probably having the exact same recollection as he had when Mike had asked the question. A memory that made his heart clench.

Eddie gripped his jeans tight, and bit down hard on his bottom lip, desperate to yank out his inhaler in his trouser pocket. But he didn’t want to freak his friends out, not right now, especially about something so silly. So he leaped up out of his chair, surprising the others, and excused himself.

“I uh… I need some air, think the alcohols gotten to me.” He lied, before practically fleeing the room, and heading straight for the exit.

Four of them were left staring after Eddie in confusion, except Richie. He had a funny feeling Eddie had ran for it when he remembered exactly what happened on his last day in Derry. Because Richie did, and it hit him right in the God damn feelings.

“Is he okay?” Ben asked in worry, just about ready to get up and go look for him.

“He looked u-upset,” Bill said. “What happened?”

Richie put his hand up to stop Ben from leaving, shaking his head. “It’s alright, guys. I’ll go.” He said softly, not sounding like himself at all. And the Losers instantly noticed. “He uh… I’m pretty sure it’s to do with uh… the two of us, you know?”

Then, the others realised.

“Shit,” Mike almost groaned, feeling a tad guilty. “Richie, man, I’m sorry.”

Richie nodded slowly. “It’s alright,” he said, before standing himself, and slipping his jacket back on. “I’ll be right back.”

The group merely nodded, not knowing what to say. Richie knew the only person who had any idea about what happened on Eddie’s last day in Derry was Mike, because he remembers going over to his house that night, collapsing on his porch, and bursting into tears. Mike had rubbed his back and told him everything was going to be alright, and even took Richie into his home to give him some ice cream and spend hours looking through the pictures they’d taken as kids on Mike’s polaroid camera.

Richie knew Mike would fill the rest of them in on it, and was glad he didn’t have to. It was hard enough thinking of when Eddie had left that day, and took a lot of strength to not pull his hair out and scream. With a lump in his throat, and his stomach in knots, Richie hurriedly made his way outside, hoping the fresh air would sober him up a little more.

“Eddie?”

Eddie paced back and forth outside the restaurant, hands running through his hair and down his face, taking deep breaths from his inhaler every ten seconds, and trying to comprehend what the fuck was happening. He couldn’t stay inside any longer, he needed to get some air. He’d been doing great, just fine, until that one simple question just brought back the most intense memory he’d had all night. Eddie was confused, shocked, fucking scared, he didn’t have a clue what to do about it.

“Hey, Eddie!”

Eddie stopped his pacing to stare at the crack in the floor, counting in his head, wishing Richie would stop calling his name and go back inside. Damn it, he wishes he was still as drunk as he was earlier.

“Eddie?” Richie came out through the door then, just a few metres from where Eddie was still stood watching the floor like it were some interesting sitcom. “Hey, what’s up, Eds? You got everyone worried.”

Eddie breathed out a sigh, blinking slowly before turning to face Richie. He felt a pang of guilt when he saw the worried look on Richie’s face, and his shoulders sagged. “Sorry.” He said softly, not exactly knowing what else to say. “I just… I uh…”

“Needed to get out of there?” Richie finished for him, because really, he’d been wanting to get out of there himself as soon as Mike had drifted into some serious talk. “Same, dude.” He almost laughed, shrugging. “Was getting a bit weird, huh? I mean, fuck. The drinks made me forget a little, but now I’m coming back to reality after what Mike said.”

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded slowly, taking another deep breath before he said honestly, “I don’t know what to fucking say to you, man. I feel… fuck, I don’t know how I feel! I… Jesus, Rich!” Eddie huffed, starting to pace again in agitation. “We used to be together!” he said, as he flung his hands in the air as if that would make the situation any easier. “We were a couple, Rich, a couple! And we forgot, we just forgot this whole time and now we’ve remembered everything and holy shit, this is absolutely fucking insane!”

Richie snorted. “Yeah, it’s fucking insane, alright.” He said, starting to get dizzy from how fast Eddie was striding back and forth. But he wouldn’t admit, he was feeling just as freaked out as the other man, he was just better at hiding it. “Do you uh… do you want to talk about it?”

Eddie halted, gazing at Richie like he’d grown two heads. “We are talking about it, dipshit.”

“Okay, fuckface.” Richie put his hands up in defence, smiling a little at their banter. Boy, he missed it. “Just trying to start a conversation, you know, so it doesn’t get more awkward.”

Eddie snorted this time, because, well it had been awkward since they’d met inside. The fact they’d gone from messing around and acting silly the last couple of hours, to not knowing how to talk to each other just added to the weird state of affairs. And once again, the two were just standing there in silence, not having any idea what to say to each other, so different to how they once were.

Eddie bit his bottom lip, sticking his hands into his pockets, running his fingers along the material that was sitting in one of the pouches still. Except, now, the fabric had a whole new meaning.

“Hey, Rich.” Eddie said out of the blue, making Richie’s head shoot up, and stare at him with wide eyes. “Do you remember uh… when I left Derry?”

Richie was taken back by the question, expecting Eddie to say something about what was happening now, and what they were going to do about it, not delve straight into what Mike had brought up mere minutes ago. But he nodded, because he did, he remembered every second of the day Eddie had left. He remembered it being the worst fucking day of his entire life.

“Yeah, I do. That’s why you came out here, wasn’t it?” He said, stuffing his own hands into his pockets as Eddie nodded in answer. He smiled to himself, already thinking of a stupid joke to lighten the mood. “Your mom was looking pretty fine that day, Eds.”

Eddie should have expected it, but huffed in annoyance anyway. “Shut the fuck up, Trashmouth. I freaked the fuck out, dude.”

Richie grinned, just about seeing the small smile Eddie was trying to hide. “Yeah me too, wanted to run away myself.” Richie admitted, and decided to steer the conversation into a more positive vibe. “You looked good yourself, you know. With those damn shorts you always wore.”

“Fuck off, you loved my shorts.” Eddie did laugh this time, he knew it were true. He remembers Richie having a hard time keeping his hands off him whenever he wore them.

“Yeah, I did.” Richie admitted, shrugging. “It was like torture, you little shit.”

Eddie felt himself blush all of a sudden, and Richie couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. It was exactly like when they were younger, Richie would say something similar to what he’d just said, and it would have Eddie blushing like a nun at a brothel.

“Anyway,” Eddie coughed to cover his embarrassment. “I uh… I… there was kind of a big reason why I freaked and ran… it… I…” Eddie sighed loudly, deciding it was just easier to show Richie rather than explain, since he had no idea how to mention it.

So, Eddie grabbed a fistful of the fabric that was sitting in his pocket, and gently pulled it out. Richie’s eyes widened comically at what he saw scrunched up in the younger man’s hand, and his own hand gripped tighter in the object he held in his own coat pocket. There, in its colourful, bright glory, was Richie’s old shirt he’d given to Eddie on the day he’d left Derry. It was exactly how it was when he’d slipped it off his shoulders and handed it to the other boy, a bit faded in parts, a slight hole in one end of a sleeve, and a couple of grass stains here and there.

Eddie didn’t know what Richie was thinking by his expression, he looked partially confused and partially surprised. “I uh…” Eddie shuffled anxiously, holding the shirt close. “It hung in my wardrobe for a while, I had no idea whose it was or where it had come from, but after a while I kept going back to it. In the end I took it out and it went everywhere with me, because…” Eddie took a deep breath and said in all honesty, “For some reason holding it always made me feel better, especially when I have an anxiety attack, or if I was feeling like shit.”

Eddie peeked over to the taller man again to see his reaction, and wasn’t expecting the huge grin that was almost splitting his face. Then Richie just began laughing, outright laughing, as if this was the funniest fucking joke he’d ever heard in his entire forty years of living. And Eddie was not amused.

“What’s so fucking funny, asshole?” Eddie asked angrily, squeezing the shirt he held tighter in his fist. “Fuck you!”

Richie stopped himself then, but he couldn’t take the grin off his face, because out of all the fucking things he expected to happen that night it definitely wasn’t this. “Woah, Eds. I wasn’t laughing at you!” he told him, stepping closer, and shaking his head at how absurd it all was. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What are you on about, Rich?” Eddie rolled his eyes, still sounding slightly annoyed.

Richie just grinned some more, and mimicking what Eddie’d done earlier, grabbed the thing in his pocket and took it out. “Surprise, dipshit.” Richie held out his hand to show Eddie, who, as soon as he laid eyes on the inhaler that was in the other’s palm, almost chocked in shock.

“What the fuck?” Eddie let out, voice rising an octave. It couldn’t be what he thought it was, could it? “Is that…”

“Your inhaler.” Richie confirmed, picking it up between his fingers and giving it a shake. “The one you gave me, because, what was it?” Richie said in a teasing tone. “You wanted me to have something to remember you by?”

“Oh fuck off.” Eddie huffed.

Richie chuckled at his pouty face, gripping the inhaler tighter in his hand. He looked down at it for a minute, and felt the smile slowly slip away. “You know,” he began, looking back up at Eddie, who he caught staring down at the shirt he was holding before meeting his gaze. “I was the same, with the inhaler.”

Eddie’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“At first, the inhaler was in my bedside table,” he explained, remembering back to years ago when he’d first opened the drawer, and seen the plastic object sitting there between his spare glasses and a book he never got around to reading. “I took it out after a while, had no idea why it was there or who belonged to it, but something told me I couldn’t throw it away. So, I began taking it everywhere, always in my pocket. Whenever I had a show, I’d keep it on me, because it uh… it made me feel less nervous.”

“Really?” Eddie whispered, a smile tugging his lips. His stomach suddenly started to feel odd, and his heart was pounding faster than normal, but he had no idea why.

“Yeah,” Richie smiled, the same sensation in his own stomach. “There was always some… some weird feeling at the back of my mind, that… that something was missing, I…” Richie sighed. “I guess uh… I guess even though I forgot about you, deep down I knew. I knew there was someone out there I…” he cut himself off, tearing his gaze away from Eddie.

“You what, Richie?” Eddie asked then, wondering if he was going to say what he thought he would.

But before Richie could say another word, the door to the restaurant practically slammed open, and out stepped Ben, eyes wide and face as white as a sheet of paper. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“Guys!” he called to the pair. “You need to come inside, quick.”

Richie and Eddie shared a look of puzzlement. “What’s going on?” Richie asked.

Eddie definitely didn’t like the expression on Ben’s face when he answered, “There’s a reason why we were brought back to Derry.”

“And that is?” Richie dared to ask.

“You’d best come back in.” Ben said, opening the door. “I think you’d better sit down for this.”


	3. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning.... there may be a teeny tiny bit of sexy times in this chapter...

When Eddie and Richie followed Ben back into the restaurant, the atmosphere was the total opposite to what it had been not that long ago. For one, everyone was sitting there in complete silence, and staring into space, eyes as wide as saucers. And Bev even looked like she was tearing up a little. Bill had his head in his hands, practically pulling his hair out in frustration, as Mike sat back and watched them with a worried expression. The pair had no idea what was going on, but they had a feeling it was bad, real bad.

“Uh…” Richie hummed, as he and Eddie sat back in their seats. “Someone tell a bad joke or?”

Bill was the one to break the silence, sitting back up straight, and looked like he’d been through hell and back. “M-Mike remembers everything.”

Eddie and Richie frowned in confusion, because quite frankly that didn’t explain why everyone looked like they hadn’t slept in weeks. Bill seemed like he didn’t have anything else to say as he put his head back in his hands, so Ben took over.

“Did you guys remember anything of Derry and us before you came here?” he asked Eddie and Richie.

The pair shared a look, thinking it over. But everyone, aside from Bill, was looking at them and expecting an answer and quick. Richie, feeling a little bit awkward and creeped the hell out, just told them.

“I uh… I didn’t… I mean, I forgot everything until Mike called… when he did I was kind of sick.” He said with a shrug, kind of getting the same feeling right about now, as he put a hand to his chest. “Had to leave the show I was supposed to do that night.” He left out the part about Eddie.

And Eddie too left out the part about Richie. “Same, it all came back to me when Mike called… I um… I crashed my car.”

Everyone, except for Mike who already knew, gasped in surprise at Eddie’s statement. “Seriously?” Bill said, having sat up straight after hearing about it.

“Yeah,” Eddie sighed. “Felt a weird pang in my chest, and just… I don’t know… got scared?”

“Shit,” Richie swallowed the lump in his throat, knowing exactly what he was talking about. But didn’t want to imagine what the crash was like. “Were you okay? Were you hurt?”

Eddie smiled at Richie, “I was fine, Rich.”

Richie nodded slowly, “Good.”

“But you don’t remember everything, Eddie?” Mike continued. “And you, Richie, you forgot as soon as you left Derry?”

The two nodded in answer, starting to feel anxious, and that same exact sickly feeling they were talking about started creeping up on them slowly. Something was telling them they didn’t want to go any further with this conversation.

“We all forgot.” Bev added in, staring off into space as she spoke. “We all forgot except for Mike.”

“Because I stayed in Derry.” Mike said.

“He said he remembered all of it.” Ben spoke this time, looking from Eddie to Richie, who were just about ready to heave at the chills that were tingling up their spines for some odd reason. “He remembers what happened to us as kids, guys. And we do too now.”

“Think about it,” Mike said to the two. “You remember the Quarry?”

“The river in the woods.” Ben practically whispered.

“The sewers.” Bev let out in a daze, face pale.

Richie was getting some incline of what they were talking about, like it was coming back to him in pieces, bit by bit. But Eddie, he felt dread wash over him like a bucket of water was poured right over his head. The sewers. He remembers the sewers. Full of disease, and rot, and clowns. The clown.

Eddie swallowed the lump in his throat, and let out in a shaky breath: “Pennywise.”

He saw Richie gawp at him in the corner of his eye, but after the shock of remembering that flesh eating, creepy as all hell clown, his chest tightened and his entire body began to shake. Eddie gasped in a breath, patting down his jacket to look for his inhaler, which, stupidly, he’d left in the damn car.

“Hey, Eddie,” Richie reached over, rubbing his arm. “Hey, breathe, come on, breathe deep.”

Eddie did as he was told, grateful to have Richie there to bring him back to reality. Within seconds of Richie talking to him softly and rubbing circles across his back, he felt a little more normal, and his chest hurt a little less. It was just like when they were kids. But then he remembered why he’d had the stupid panic attack in the first place, and he tensed.

“You okay?” Richie asked him, worry evident in his expression.

Eddie could only nod. Richie squeezed his shoulder, before turning to the others to ask a simple question. “What the _fuck_ is going on?”

It didn’t take long for Mike to pipe up and explain, repeating what he’d told the rest of the group whilst Eddie and Richie were outside. “Do you remember the oath we made? We promised if IT came back we’d stop it, we-,”

“Hold on, wait up,” Richie cut in, sighing like this was some kind of sick joke. “We were kids back then, and we killed the damn thing!”

“But we didn’t.” Mike said seriously.

Richie snorted, looking around the room at his other friends for some support, but no, they each avoided his gaze. Richie sat back in his chair, eyes wide in realisation. “We didn’t kill IT.”

“Apparently not.” Ben said, finding it unbelievable himself.

“Mike t-thinks IT killed some kids not long ago.” Bill put in, not wanting to leave anything out.

Mike sighed. “IT _did_ kill those kids, Bill.”

“What kids?” Eddie spoke up, having kept quiet this whole time. He was just sitting and praying this whole thing was a big, horrible dream. “It could have been anyone, how do you know?”

“It’s him, you guys.” Mike said, noticing the room go quiet. It looked like the Losers were finally listening. “Look, we might have changed IT, just like he changed us, but we didn’t _stop_ IT. He’s come back.” Mike gazed at every person in that room, who’s eyes were on him. “We made that oath, and that’s why I brought you all back, that’s why we’re here, to finish IT for good this time.”

It was as silent as a graveyard for what felt like forever in Mike’s opinion. The librarian could tell by each one of their faces that they were all unexpectedly gripped by fear, and he knew he had to do more to get them to believe him, believe that this was all real.

“Well,” Richie suddenly spoke. “That shit got really dark, really fast.”

Nobody said a word, and Eddie couldn’t stand it. He was already freaking out on the inside, no matter how calm he was being on the outside. He reached for a fortune cookie from the dinner plate in the middle of the table, needing to do something with his hands, needing something to distract him. As he snapped the sweet in half, pulling out the rectangle piece of paper, he frowned.

“My fortune cookie says ‘Could.’” He told the others.

Richie followed his lead, and decided to open his own. He too got confused when his only had one word written across it too. “Think this place doesn’t know how to make fortune cookies,” he said, holding up the paper so everyone could see. “Mine just says ‘Guess’.”

Bill then stood up, seeing that all of them had opened their cookies, including himself, and were looking at them like they were some kind of alien object. “Give them here.” He said, taking each one and laying them out on the table in front of him, and every single one only held one word.

Bill bit his bottom lip, leg twitching in agitation. Something was wrong, there was no doubt now, and maybe Mike wasn’t kidding after all.

“Wait, what is that?” Eddie asked, peaking over before standing next to Ben.

“Could, Not, Would, It.” Richie read them out as he got leaned over. “What?”

“It’s a message!” Mike almost stuttered at his own words, dread washing over him in an instant. This was not good.

“No,” Richie frowned, trying to put the words together in his head. “Guess, It, Could, Not, Cut?”

“Why would it guess it could not cut?” Eddie said across from him, mind as muddled as his. “What about It?”

“It goes in front?” Ben moved the piece saying ‘It’ to the beginning of the line.

Eddie hummed. “It could not guess?”

“Couldn’t guess, yeah.” Bill switched some around, trying to make sense of it.

And it went on for almost a minute. The men threw out sentences that made sense at one point, then didn’t at another, trying desperately to figure out what the hell the damn phrase was. By then they’d gotten so frustrated they were almost shouting at each other, mostly at Mike, accusing him of playing with the fortune cookies and doing the whole charade himself.

Eddie was feeling like he was about to have another panic attack, Bill was still trying to put the words on the paper together, Mike was adamant that the whole thing was to do with Pennywise as Richie suspected him still of messing with them, and Ben was just trying to stick up for Mike and calm everyone down. They talked over one another, obviously starting to panic a tad, because quite frankly nobody had any idea what was happening.

That’s when Bill noticed Bev hadn’t said a single word the whole time. Leaning one arm on the table, Bill took a look over his shoulder at the woman, seeing her peering down at her piece of paper with tears in her eyes. Within seconds the room was silent once again, as everyone else noticed Bill had stopped, and they followed his gaze towards Bev. Her hands visibly trembled as she put down her word under the others.

_Stanley_

Everyone in the room gasped at the clear name written on the paper, most of them standing back in surprise as if it would jump up at them. There was no way that was a coincidence, there was no way Mike would do that to Stanley, there could only be one possible explanation.

Bill didn’t even look up as he slid Stan’s name between two other words, the whole jumble of letters starting to come together as he said it in his head. There was only one phrase it could be, and as he put the last word into place, his heart sank, and his fear intensified. He stood back, watching Bev gasp into her hand, and the other men wide eyed and stunned.

“Why does it say Stanley?” Eddie asked, panic apparent in his voice as he threw his hands in the air. He could feel his own hands begin to tremble.

Nobody said a word. The Losers were speechless, because nobody knew what was going on, except that Pennywise the clown had returned after all.

“Will someone just fucking answer me?” Eddie shouted into the silence, making everyone wince.

None of them could answer him, they were either too dazed or frozen in complete fear. But, Eddie’s answer did come from someone else, someone that made the entire group recoil in surprise as the table they were surrounding suddenly lurched with a loud thump, as if someone had slammed their fist into its middle.

“Shit!” Richie swore, slowly taking a step back.

The others did the same as seconds later the table began to shake, and on the dinner plate sat in the middle, the fortune cookies started to shake like a load of maracas. They watched in horror as one dived out of the bowl, and to their surprise a small, slimy looking claw burst out of the shell with a squeak. This time they all dove back, trying to get as far away from the strange creature breaking through the cookie.

Richie waved his hand in the air, “The fuck is that, man?”

As he said it, the cookie burst into pieces, and the tiny thing’s claws grew out, its wings extending. There was a sickening crack as the head of the monster spun into place, revealing a head of a baby, and that’s when it began to cry. Mike pushed his seat right back and soared to his feet, everyone else scattered away from the table as the thing began fluttering its wings and scuttering around the surface like it was just learning to walk.

Just then, a few more fortune cookies popped off the plate and landed beside it, their shells cracking and spitting all over the place. One spurt open into a puddle of goo, a large eyeball tumbling onto the table, with its nerve endings slithering behind it. Richie flew back, as the thing slithered towards him to the edge of the table.

“Hey! Shit!” Richie yelled, his back hitting the wall. “That fortune cookies looking at me!”

The others jumped as another revealed some kind of bats wing, fluttering like mad as the rest of its body was trapped in the cookie. Bev finally dove out of her chair, running to the wall to get away, as everyone else too decided the further away the better.

“I don’t want to be here!” Eddie cried, putting his hands to his face as he tried to get away, Ben jumping in fright next to him. “I can’t do this, I can’t do this! I want to go home!”

There was sudden chaos erupting on the table as glasses were tipped over, plates were smashed on the floor, and the creatures ran around like it were their playground. Richie cursed again as the eye literally looked up at him and stared, sending him further into the wall. The batlike cookie then had the idea to start flying around the room, before heading straight for Ben and Eddie, who were backing off into some chairs stacked in the corner.

The two yelped as it started attacking them, Eddie’s arms going up to shield himself, as Ben tried in vain to swat the creature away. Richie’s gaze quickly turned to them, watching in dread as the thing went in to thwack Eddie’s head.

“Eddie!” he shouted, fearing for the younger man as Ben tried his best to protect him.

Richie eyed up the eyeball as he pushed himself off the wall, and practically sprinted towards Eddie. With one swing of his arm he smacked the bat as hard as he could, sending it flying in another direction, unluckily for Bill it decided to take its frustration of being stuck in a cookie out on him.

“Eddie, you okay?” he turned to the asthmatic, who’s wide, frightened eyes caught his own.

“Rich?” Eddie let out in a sob, and without even thinking about it he flew himself into the taller man and hid his face in his chest. “I want to go home, Rich, I can’t do this! I can’t do this, I can’t!”

“Sh, sh, it’s okay, Eddie, it’s okay.” Richie soothed him, hand running gently through his hair.

But it wasn’t really okay, because at that very moment the fortune cookies had decided to turn into a bowl of steaming, hot, black oil, overflowing over the plate and spreading out across the table, burning everything it touched. Richie was kind of glad Eddie wasn’t looking, as the creatures screeched and wailed whilst skidding over the furniture. Not to mention the weird, voodoo heads that Mike screamed at, as they bobbed up and down in the fish tank right behind him.

Bill too noticed and yelped in surprise, just as Bev swung at the bat. Mike, out of the blue, then picked up a chair, and went full out crazy on the monsters.

“It’s not real!” he told them, bringing the chair up and slamming it back down onto the strange baby thing wailing up at him. “It’s not real! It’s not real!” he repeated, smashing the chair noisily onto the table, squishing the creatures in the process.

Everyone held back, putting their arms out to protect themselves from the bits of wood, glass and guts flying through the air. Richie clung onto Eddie as he whimpered in his arms, wondering what the actual fuck they’d deserved to be here right now. And just as the whole fiasco had begun, it ended, when one of the waitresses came almost running in to probably find out what in the name of fortune cookies was going on.

The place looked a right state as she peered around the room, all the dining plates and glasses smashed into bits, the food that was left splattered all on the floor, and Mike just standing there huffing and puffing with a broken chair dangling from his hand. Not to mention the rest of them were standing off to the side like they were scared out of their wits.

“Is uh… is everything alright?” the waitress dared to ask.

Richie wanted to laugh, frozen in place with Eddie now clinging to the front of his shirt. “Um… can we get the cheque, please?” Richie tried to grin, but it came out like more of a grimace.

The woman just nodded slowly, before quickly turning and rushing out of the room. That was going to be one hell of a bill.

It didn’t take long for the Losers to get the hell out of that restaurant. Mostly because, well, they’d been attacked by a little, freaky baby creature, and some bats, but also because the owners of the place weren’t too happy that Mike had destroyed their dinner table and everything on it. After paying their undoubtably expensive bill, and encountering one of Richie’s fans (they’d first thought was Pennywise) who he’d basically yelled at, they hurried out like they were being chased, following Bill who led them towards the parking lot.

The group gathered together as Bev pulled out her phone, having decided inside that it was a good idea to call Stanley’s wife, just to get a clear answer to where he was. They hung around close to Bev as she dialled the number, waiting for Mrs Uris to pick up.

Meanwhile, Eddie was pretty close to having a mental breakdown, and stopped in front of Mike to get something off his chest. “You lied to us,” he said. “That’s not okay, Mike!”

“Yeah,” Richie snorted, agreeing completely. “First thing you should have said was, oh hey guys, want to come home to Derry to get murdered by a killer clown? Because then I would have said no.”

Eddie nodded, he would have probably packed his bags and moved country if he’d remembered the damn clown sooner. Ben caught their attention to shut them up, waving them over to listen, as Bev greeted Stanley’s wife over the phone. Everyone noticed the sadness in her tone, which meant something wasn’t right.

“ _Oh…_ ” Mrs Uris’s breath caught, and she continued to answer Bev’s question, but gave an answer they were all dreading. “ _He-he passed_.”

Her words sent shivers down their spines, as that confirmed their fear, that Stanley was dead, and Pennywise was to blame. They all stood still, not knowing what to say or do, the news of one of their own passing felt like a punch to the gut. Eddie though, he was pacing, feeling ten times worse than the others, because he had something nagging at the front of his mind that he wished he could make disappear.

And as Bev asked Stanley’s wife when it happened, he stopped in his tracks, staring at the phone in Bev’s hand like it would suddenly blow up. Slowly, he took a few small steps closer.

“ _It happened yesterday_ ,” Mrs Uris said, her voice raspy. “ _It was horrible, his wrists they… he cut his wrists… I found him in-_.”

“The bathtub.”

Eddie blinked back into focus, the words slipping past his lips without realising. He quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed he’d whispered those words at the same time Stanley’s wife had said them, and he turned to see Richie standing right behind him. Eddie swiftly turned back around, hoping the look of confusion on Richie’s face didn’t mean that he’d heard him. It didn’t make a difference anyway, as Eddie already felt his chest getting tight, and his throat start to sting, just about on the brink of a panic attack.

Eddie clutched his jacket as he felt the pain begin in the middle of his chest, hurriedly grabbing his inhaler in his pocket and taking long, deep breaths of the medicine. He was trying hard, so hard not to get noticed, and would bet any money Richie was watching him as he tried to breath. Which he did. Richie kept his gaze on his friend the entire time, wanting to reach out to him, but knowing he should stay back after he’d turned his back on him seconds before. Something was obviously going on with Eddie, and he’d find out later.

“ _I’m sorry, I really have to go_.” Stanley’s wife said on the phone then, as Bev sent her their regards. “ _Thank you. Goodbye_.”

As soon as she hung up, Bill spoke up. “He knew,” he said, tears in his eyes at the thought of Stan being alone and afraid, as he took his own life. “Pennywise knew about Stan before we even did.”

Eddie gasped at that, taking another puff of his inhaler. Thankfully nobody said anything, and Mike was the one to talk. “We have to stop him!” he said to them, as Bev lit a cigarette, and most of the group were getting anxious. “I have a plan, a good one!”

Richie turned from Eddie then, letting out a short laugh at what Mike said. “I have a good plan too, get the fuck out of here, before this all ends as bad as one of Bill’s books!”

Bill didn’t even seem fazed.

“So, who’s with me?” Richie called to everyone. “Anyone?”

Eddie didn’t need to be told twice. Fuck this, he wanted to go home, and forget this ever happened, and pray that nobody else would get hurt. He raised his hand as he shoved his inhaler back into his pocket, positive his lungs weren’t about to explode out of his chest. Richie glanced at the other man and couldn’t help but feel relieved that he and Eddie were on the same page.

“You can’t,” Mike said, getting frustrated. “We made a promise to each other back then!”

“Well, I don’t know, let’s unmake the promise!” Richie argued back.

Ben stepped in as Richie growled in annoyance, feeling torn between wanting to leave, but knowing they couldn’t. “Richie, other people are gonna die.”

“People die every day, man!” Richie snapped, waving his arms in the air to try and prove his point. “We owe this town jack shit! And, I just found out a few hours ago that I grew up in this dump, so I’m fucking leaving! Fuck this!”

Richie didn’t waste any time and spun around, heading back to his car to get the hell out of there. Eddie slowly but surely took some steps back and began to follow him, just as Mike practically jumped on him, and tried desperately to change his mind.

“Sorry, Mike, I’m with Richie on this.” He told him, before Mike could get a word in. “I want to go home and forget all this every happened.”

“Eddie, please.” Mike pleaded.

“Listen,” Eddie halted, turning to his friend. “We stay, then we die! That’s it! I’m going to go back to the Inn and… I don’t know I’ll… I’m going to sleep!” he stuttered out, wondering if he should tell the others what was running around in his mind after all.

“You’re not leaving?” Mike called as Eddie hastily walked away. “Eddie?”

But Eddie ignored him, feeling that damn panic attack start to take affect again. Man, he was getting way too many of those things lately, and really, there was no question why. Once he got to his car he couldn’t even take his keys out of his jeans without almost dropping them, his hands shaking like leaves.

“Eddie?”

Eddie jumped in surprise, spinning around to see Richie standing by his own car. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Eddie answered in a hurry. “Totally fine, I’m good.”

Richie didn’t believe a word he was saying of course, and by the way Eddie was shoving his keys into the door, he’d say his earlier speculation wasn’t wrong either, something was definitely up with him. But as he was about to confront him about it, Eddie was almost diving into his front seat, and speeding off out onto the main road like he was late for his own damn wedding.

“Jesus Christ!” Richie cursed, quickly getting into his own car and taking off after the other man.

Eddie was freaking out even more by the time he was halfway back to the townhouse. First he’d been sure he wanted to get out of Derry, then he’d changed his mind after what he remembered from his last encounter with Pennywise, then he was on the fence. It was like he didn’t know whether he wanted to live or die! And to top it off, he was scared shitless after what had happened to Stanley.

Eddie growled behind the steering wheel, not noticing he was going way over the speed limit, not that anyone in that dump of a place would care. He was scared, he was confused, and he needed more alcohol to make his brain shut the hell down for the rest of the night. So, as soon as his car came to a screeching halt across the road from the Inn, Eddie was out of it quicker than he could say killer clown, and practically sprinting across the road.

Richie, he’d surprised himself that he’d kept up with the younger man. He even had to go through a red light just to keep up, but that didn’t matter when Eddie was driving like a drunk man and probably having a damn anxiety attack behind the wheel.

“Eddie!” Richie almost tripped over his own feet as he got out of the car, and slammed the door behind him. He quickly jogged up to the younger man, who was already going through the door of the hotel, practically running away. “Eddie, wait up! Eddie!”

“Leave it Richie!” Eddie shouted behind him, before almost sprinting into the lounge of the hotel, and heading straight for the bar.

Richie followed him and watched his every move, coming to a stop in the doorway. He didn’t know if Eddie was having a weird OCD moment and trying to tidy the bottles of alcohol as he started fiddling with them on the shelves, or if he was just having a mental breakdown. Turns out he was just trying to find the right alcohol, so he could pop the top off and down the damn thing.

“Jesus, Eds!” Richie yelped, as Eddie put the bottle to his lips. He ran around the other side of the bar, and had to basically fight Eddie for the bottle. “Give it to me, you idiot! Give it!”

“No!” Eddie growled, hugging the thing to his chest as Richie reached around him to try and nab it. “Fuck off!”

“Aha!” Richie cheered as he yanked the bottle out of Eddie’s hand, and hurriedly stepped back, holding the item way above his head. “Try getting it now, shortass!”

Eddie didn’t look impressed in the slightest, and immediately got on his tip toes, struggling to get a hold of the vodka in Richie’s grasp. “Give it back, dickhead!” he sighed, trying one last time. “You’re such a prick!”

“I’m stopping you from being stupid!” Richie shot back, quickly placing the alcohol onto the highest shelf. “What the fuck got you so worked up over there, huh? You drove here like a madman, Eddie, I was behind you the whole time!”

“It’s nothing!” Eddie sighed heavily, shoving past Richie to head out. “Just leave it!”

Richie obviously wasn’t going to let it sit. So, although Eddie was faster than a god damn race horse, Richie ran to him as fast as he possibly could and grabbed his arm, spinning him around and bringing him to a halt.

“Eddie!” Richie just about yelled, cutting the smaller man off as he was about to probably shout at him. “What the fuck, man? Why are you freaking out so bad?”

“I told you,” Eddie said, way calmer than Richie thought he’d be. “It’s nothing! I just want to get the fuck out of here or… or I don’t know!”

Richie could _see_ the fear in Eddie’s eyes then, the pure panic. The last time he’d seen him that scared, they were fighting Pennywise. “Eddie,” Richie said gentler this time, stepping forward and wanting so bad to reach out and take the man’s hand. “What happened back there? I saw you have a panic attack. When Bev was on the phone, when… when Stan’s wife said… I heard you.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “What did you hear?”

“You said he was in the bath, the exact same time Stan’s wife said it.” Richie said surely, he’d heard Eddie loud and clear because he was standing right behind him. “How did you know, Eddie? You freaked out right after. What’s going on?”

It was like a switch had been flipped, and Eddie instantly went from frantic to giving up, and his shoulders sagged as he put his hands to his face. “You won’t believe it, Richie. It’s so fucked up.”

“Hey,” Richie said softly, reaching for Eddie’s hands and drawing them from his face, grabbing onto them to lead him further into the room. “Come on, come sit down.”

Eddie sighed in defeat, letting Richie take him to the comfy sofas in the middle of the room, and sitting down close together. Richie didn’t let go of his hand, and Eddie was grateful for it, having his larger hand in his comforted him better than anything else could at that moment.

“Eddie?”

Eddie sighed again, and looked up at Richie. “I saw him.” He said, earning a questioning glance from the older man in front of him. “I saw Stan in the bathtub.”

Richie looked like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth, he kind of didn’t know what to say to that. “Uh…” he fidgeted. He didn’t want to say it out loud and seem like an ass, but what Eddie’d just said sounded kind of strange. “You _saw_ Stan?”

“I’m not crazy Richie!” Eddie defended himself, because quite frankly Richie was failing at not looking like he thought Eddie was just that. “I saw him, okay. Back when we were kids, I saw us all.”

“Hey, I don’t think you’re crazy.” Richie kind of lied, he’d heard weirder things, and Eddie didn’t exactly look like he was making it up. He gave his friend’s hand a squeeze. “But, Eddie, I don’t get what you’re trying to say here, man. I don’t…”

“The deadlights.” Eddie cut in, voice breaking. “I saw us in the deadlights and then I saw us die.”

Richie felt his blood run cold. Of all the things he thought Eddie would have been getting at, he wasn’t expecting that. The deadlights, he hadn’t remembered them until now, and it all came back to him at once.

_Richie had had enough. That was it. He wasn’t going to sit around the house being mad at Bill, frustrated at the whole stupid situation, and wishing he was with Eddie. He was just going to go for a ride, maybe stop at Eddie’s house, and possibly sneak up the side of the house like he always did, and knock on the window._

_So that’s exactly what he did. He cycled through town to Eddies, getting there in record time, hoping to God his dumb bike wouldn’t make too much noise as he parked up behind a tree in the garden. Quietly, and tip-toeing his way to the side of the Kaspbrak house, Richie made his way up the bricks, a little pathway Eddie had made him months ago to make it easier for him to access his window. Sneaking into the Kaspbrak residence was like tradition._

_“Eddie!” Richie whispered, giving the glass a slight tap with his knuckles. “Eds, open up, it’s me!” Richie snorted, who else would it be?_

_He didn’t get an answer right away, so tried again. This time he rapped on the window a bit louder, leaning over to take a look inside. There didn’t seem to be any sight of Eddie, the bed was still made, he wasn’t sitting at his desk, or on the beanbag, and he wasn’t laying across the carpet questioning his life decisions like a big ole drama queen like he usually did when his mother grounded him._

_“Eddie?” Richie tried once again, before giving the window a slight tug underneath. He found that it was unlocked, and shrugged. “Guess I’ll just chill out until he comes back then.”_

_Richie, as quiet as a mouse, slid the window open and snuck on in. being his clumsy self, as soon as his foot hit the ground he almost went tumbling into the desk on the other side of the room. He instantly stuck his hands out, stopping himself from making too much noise, and giving himself away. Richie sighed in relief, and stood upright, listening out for a few seconds to see if there was any sound from around the house._

_The only sound that could be heard was the TV from downstairs, which was nothing new. But Richie couldn’t hear anything from upstairs, no taps running in the bathroom, or the sound of the shower, no toilet flushing, or feet shuffling across the hallway. Unless Eddie was in the kitchen, which must have been it. Of course, it wasn’t, as Richie found out once he turned around._

_Richie’s heart raced and his breath was taken from him as he faced the window where he’d come in, which was right next to the bed and the back wall. The back wall that usually had posters decorating it, but now, it was covered with blood. Richie choked on a sob as he read the words that were written in the crimson liquid, from one side of the wall to the other._

_HE DIES IF YOU TRY_

_“Eddie.” Richie wheezed, starting to tremble._

_He didn’t even care when he ripped the door open to Eddie’s room, and raced down the hallway, making so much noise as he descended the steps that Eddie’s mother called from the living room._

_“Eddie?”_

_Richie didn’t stop, he couldn’t. He jumped the last few steps, and headed for the front door, heart feeling like it was beating out of his chest. He ignored the shocked screams of Eddie’s mother as he opened the front door, not giving a flying shit as it slammed against the wall, and shook with the contact._

_He immediately went straight for his bike and almost fell over in his haste. As soon as he mounted it, he was off like a shot, legs straining as he peddled faster than he’d ever peddled before. He could feel tears running down his cheek as he cried, his chest aching, and head hurting. Pennywise had Eddie. He had Eddie for God knows how long, and who knew what that clown was doing to him. He sobbed loudly at the thought, praying and hoping to whoever was listening that Eddie would be okay._

_“Please be okay!” Richie said out loud, turning down Bill’s street. “Please, please God, please.”_

_As he came to Bill’s house, he came to an abrupt stop, breaks screeching in protest. Richie let it fall to the ground as he rushed to Bill’s front door, violently banging on it with his fists, practically screaming his friend’s name._

_“Bill!” Richie bellowed, completely throwing what happened with the two of them earlier out the window. Who cared right now, Eddie was in trouble and they had to save him! “Bill please! Answer the door! Bill! It’s Eddie, Bill! Please!”_

_Within seconds Bill was opening the door, looking at Richie in shock at his appearance. “Richie?” he questioned. Richie was crying his eyes out, chest heaving as he took gasping breaths, and hands obviously shaking. “W-what’s wrong? W-what happened?”_

_“IT’s got Eddie, Bill!” Richie wept, waving his hands around. “Eddie, he’s… he’s… the fucking clown’s got him, Bill! We have t-to save him! We have to-,”_

_“Hey,” Bill cut in, coming forward to put his hands on Richie’s shoulders, steadying him. “Richie, c-calm d-d-down! It’s okay! It’s g-going to be okay!”_

_It took some time for Bill to actually calm Richie down, after crying so much his eyes started to sting, he began to heave and almost had a panic attack of his own. Once Bill could see Richie wasn’t about to collapse in shock, he pushed him back towards his bike, going for his own in the garage, before they both took off towards Stans. After that they went to Mike, then to Ben, and lastly to Bev, who didn’t waste any time in grabbing their own bikes and the six friends were soon racing to the Derry sewers._

_This was it, the moment they had to take down Pennywise. It wasn’t easy from the beginning. The house was scary enough, not to mention Bowers’s attack on Mike, and Stan getting almost eaten alive by the murderous clown himself had them all shaken up, but they carried on, all determined to save Eddie, especially Richie. He was in front the entire way, not giving a damn if a six-foot shark just happened to pop out of the disgusting grey-water to drag him under. He’d fight that fucker until his fists bled, he wasn’t stopping until he found Eddie._

_And when they did, Richie thought the worst. They’d found their way into the clown’s hideaway, like a huge cave that reached up and up, where children were floating in mid-air like balloons. It took Richie seconds to see Eddie, who was floating himself, just feet away. Except, he wasn’t so high in the air, and he was still, like a puppet just dangling from his invisible strings._

_“Eddie!” Richie called out, splashing through murky water and stopping just below the younger boy. “Eds!”_

_The rest followed, coming to stand beside him, looking up at their paralyzed friend. None of them had a clue if Eddie could hear them, or if he was even awake, but they knew they had to get him down and fast. Ben came up with the plan to hoist Richie up so he could pull Eddie down, and that’s just what they did. Ben, Mike and Bill gripped in the taller boy’s legs and lifted him, Richie just about being able to wrap his hands around Eddie’s ankles and gently haul him down._

_When Eddie’s feet touched the ground, the Losers got a better look of just how out of it he was. They all gaped in surprise, as Eddie’s usual brown eyes were now glazed over, and looked like his irises were covered by a layer of fog._

_“Eddie?” Richie chocked, putting his hands on the smaller boy’s shoulders and giving him a careful shake, Eddie’s eyes unblinking at the movement. “Eddie, wake up!”_

_“What’s happened to him?” Mike asked in worry._

_“Don’t know,” Bev said, frowning. “Is he sleeping?”_

_“Why are h-his eyes like t-that?” Bill questioned. But nobody knew the answers._

_“Eddie!” Richie said a little louder this time, ignoring his friends rambling on. “He’s not waking up, guys, he’s not moving! Eddie, please!” Richie begged, jostling him harder._

_But nothing was working. Richie could hear the others behind him, trying to figure out what to do, a lot calmer than what he felt inside. He gripped Eddie’s arms like he was about to slip through them and disappear, letting out a chocked sob Richie stepped closer to the smaller boy, panic overwhelming him. He was shaking, sweating, wanting to scream at the top of his voice. Eddie wasn’t waking up, he wasn’t showing no signs of movement, his eyes were still gazing into nothingness._

_And Richie could only think of one thing to wake him up. Drowning out his friend’s voices, and without even thinking about it, Richie moved his hands to grab either side of Eddie’s head and in one swift movement bent down and joined their lips. The other Losers gasped in surprise at Richie’s sudden action, all of them going silent as he kissed Eddie gently, gradually pulling back, watching and waiting for any signs that it had worked._

_The group didn’t have to wait long, before Eddie’s eyes began to change colour, the white mist vanishing. Suddenly, Eddie inhaled heavily, blinking over and over like he had something in his eyes. Before he could even utter a word, Richie engulfed him in a bone crushing hug, followed by the Losers who joined him, all laughing in pure relief that their friend was alright._

_“What…” Eddie mumbled against Richie’s shoulder._

_They all pulled away, except Richie who stood up but still held him by his wrists, feeling like if he let him go something would happen again. “Richie?” Eddie practically whispered, seeing a single tear slip down Richie’s cheek._

_Eddie used his thumb to wipe it away, eyes not leaving his friends. The two didn’t say a word as they went in for another hug._

“Fuck.” Richie swore, taking back his hand to run them through his hair. “Fuck, this is so… what do you mean you saw us die?”

Eddie was quiet after Richie asked him the question, staring off into space. For some reason he suddenly felt like he wanted to just curl into a ball and die, man did he want to be at home right now, forget about all this Pennywise bullshit and just go back to normal. But he knew he couldn’t. Eddie let out a silent cry at the thought, putting his face in his hands, ashamed at being so cowardly about it all.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Richie instantly grabbed a hold of him, bringing him into his side, and wrapping him up in his arms. “Eddie, that’s enough man. I hate seeing you like this.”

“I can’t do this Richie,” Eddie sniffed, letting the comedian hold him as he cried into his hands. “I can’t fucking do this! I can’t!”

“Shh,” Richie fussed, hating what this was doing to Eddie. It was worse than when they were kids, and the reason he’d used to hold him like that would be because his mother grounded him, he’d had a bad day at school or felt a little sick from eating too much ice cream. But now it was a whole other story. “Just chill okay? Sit back for a bit, and you can tell me when you’re ready, yeah?”

Eddie nodded, letting his hands fall into his lap, using his sleeve to wipe his tear stained cheek. He let his head fall onto Richie’s shoulder, and closed his eyes, sniffling some more. And in the last hour he’d had to endure hell, he finally felt slightly relaxed, safe, at home. But no matter how hard he tried to push everything into the back of his mind, Pennywise’s stupid smile was trying to push through, until Richie’s voice cut in and took his mind off of that clown.

“Hey Eddie?”

“Mmm?”

“You remember that time we were fifteen,” Richie began, leaning his head atop of the smaller mans. “We went to your uncle’s wedding at the town hall, and I asked you to dance in front of your mom?”

Eddie’s face split into a big smile, seeing that exact moment in his head. “Shit, yeah, I remember the look of horror on her face.”

Richie chuckled. “She tried so hard to stop us from going up to dance together.” He said, starting to imitate the woman. “’Eddie you’ll break your ankles! You’ll fall and hurt yourself! What if he steps on your toes! You could lose your breath and faint!”

Eddie laughed softly, pretty impressed by the impression. “I’m glad I ignored her.”

“Me too.” Richie grinned, remembering how he’d did the best dad dancing he could just to make Eddie laugh. “That was a good day.”

“Yeah,” Eddie sighed. “Yeah, it was.”

“Eddie?” Richie said seconds later, coming back down to reality. The risk analyst hummed in answer. “I missed you, you know.”

Eddie raised his head off of his shoulder to look directly at Richie, not realising how close they were until their noses were inches away from touching. Eddie smiled at him, and Richie smiled back.

“I know we forgot each other,” Richie continued. “But I did miss you.”

Eddie gazed at him sadly, thinking of all the years they’d missed, and what could have been. “I’ve missed you too, Rich.”

Neither of them seemed to notice that they were slowly getting closer to one another, Richie leaned over just a tad, Eddie following suit as he saw Richie gaze down at his lips for a split second. The pair were so close Richie could see the faded freckles dotted on Eddie’s cheeks, something he’d loved about the other man, and it spurred him on to get closer. Just another couple of inches and-

“Guys, are you in… oh.”

Richie and Eddie almost had a heart attack when Ben spoke from behind them, they instinctively jumped apart and looked over to see Ben and Bev standing in the doorway, no backpacks or suitcases in site. Looks like they’d chosen to stay after all.

“Sorry,” Ben said sheepishly, feeling himself blush. “Um, we just… everything okay?” he decided to go with, as he noticed Eddie’s eyes were a little red.

“You guys should uh… you should sit down.” Richie told them hurriedly without thinking, sharing a look with Eddie to make sure he was okay with the other two being there. Eddie nodded, he felt better just having Richie with him, but he guessed now was a good a time as any. “So, you’re staying?”

Ben shrugged. “We’re not sure yet.”

“What were you guys talking about just now?” Bev said, changing the subject, as she’d noticed Eddie and Richie battling it out over a bottle of alcohol as her and Ben had made their way upstairs earlier.

Richie could feel Eddie tense next to him.

But Eddie knew he had to tell them eventually, explain exactly what he’d seen, exactly what had been plaguing his mind this entire time. It was now or never. “I uh… Do you guys remember the deadlights?”

Ben and Bev nodded as they got comfortable in their seats. “How could we forget.” Bev whispered, sending Eddie a comforting smile. “Is that what you were talking about?”

“Yeah,” Eddie answered, looking at Richie for some support in this. The older man didn’t let him down, and took his hand back in his, holding onto him tight. “Well uh… I didn’t just see us grown up… I um… I saw us die.”

Ben and Bev literally looked at him like he’d grown two heads. “What do you mean you saw us die?” Ben asked confused.

Eddie took a deep breath, and just told them the truth. “Every night since Derry I… I have nightmares, really bad nightmares.” He said, holding on tight to Richie’s hand. “I see people die, people in pain I… I feel their pain it…” he felt his hands begin to shake again. “I’ve seen every single one of us… of us…”

“Of us what?”

Bill and Mike chose then to come through the door and into the lounge, Bill taking a seat on the other side of Eddie. They’d heard enough of the conversation to know what was happening, and let Eddie carry on, as his eyes began to tear up.

“The place where Stanley wound up,” Eddie rubbed away a tear, trying hard not to let it get to him. “That’s how we end… it’s what will happen to us all.”

“Wait,” Ben spoke up, trying to put the pieces together as his friend went quiet. “How come none of us besides Eddie is seeing all this? What makes him so different?”

“The deadlights.” Richie said confidently, because that’s what Eddie had told him, and that was the only thing that made sense.

“The deadlights?” Bill repeated. He remembered it then, Eddie being taken by Pennywise, left floating in the middle of the sewers, eyes glassy and body still. “He was the only one caught in the deadlights that day!”

Mike bowed his head in agreement, taking centre stage. “We were all touched by IT, changed deep down, like a virus of some sort, you understand?” he directed at Eddie, who by now had rubbed his eyes raw, and was clinging to Richie’s hand like a lifeline. “This virus has been growing for twenty-seven years, this whole-time metastasising, it got to Stan first because-,”

“He was the weakest.” Richie finished.

Everyone huffed at him for saying such a thing, but deep down they all knew he was right. Stanley had always been the most afraid, even more than Eddie, and he was the easiest target for Pennywise.

Mike couldn’t have agreed more. “What Eddie keeps seeing, it will happen. It’ll happen to us all eventually, unless we stop Pennywise once and for all.”

Richie snorted. “How the fuck are we supposed to do that, Einstein?”

“The ritual of Chud.” At Mike’s words everyone, but Bill, looked at him like he’d just spoken gibberish. “There were a tribe who first fought IT, and they have a saying, all living things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit-,”

“A _ritual_?” Bev said in misperception, unless that’s exactly what Mike had said. “You can’t be serious?”

“I’m with Bev,” Richie snorted. “I mean come on, there’s got to be another way? It comes back every twenty-seven years, right? Let’s just do it then!”

Bill looked at him stupid. “We’d be seventy years old, Richie.”

“That’s not how it works!” Eddie finally talked, almost having to yell over them. He felt his chest once more begin to go tight, and wanted to scream. The comforting hand on his back from Richie kept him from doing so. “None of us will make it another twenty years, and… and the way it happens… we…”

“It’s alright, Eddie.” Richie spoke gently to him, bringing him back into his arms.

Ben ran a hand through his dishevelled hair, “So if we don’t beat IT, this virus, this cycle, then-,”

“We die.” Bill simply stated. “We die horrible deaths.”

“Great,” Richie mumbled, wishing he could down a bottle of vodka right this second. “Sounds like fun.”

“Listen,” Bill took to the centre of the room, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I’ve s-seen w-what Mike’s talking about, and i-it’s all true. He showed me. It’s the only way to defeat him. And if we want this ritual to work…” he turned to Mike.

“We have to remember.”

They all gazed at him confused. “Remember what?” Richie asked.

“It’s better if I show you,” Mike said, looking at his watch. “We don’t have much time. The cycle will end soon, and when it does…”

“We’re fucked?” Richie hummed.

Mike didn’t even need to answer him, he knew it was true. So they had no choice. The Losers had to stay in Derry and kill IT for good, or they’d all die soon anyway. It’s just what they all wanted to hear.

“We’ll m-meet down here early in the morning, at s-sunrise.” Bill told them, not taking no for an answer. They had to get it done. “Get some sleep, guys.”

Richie snorted as he rose from the sofa, pulling Eddie up with him. “Like we’re fucking sleeping tonight.”

They all silently agreed, as they all dragged themselves out of the lounge, and up the staircase to their rooms. Each one of them anxious for the day that lay ahead of them. Richie and Eddie were last up the stairs, taking their time as the others went on ahead, saying their goodnights and shutting the doors quietly. Eddie’s room was the first on the landing, and as he unlocked it, Richie stopped beside him.

“Are you uh…” Richie coughed into his hand, suddenly feeling nervous. “Are you going to be okay?”

Eddie shrugged. He still felt drained from the last half hour or so, and absolutely terrified for what they were about to do, but he supposed he would be fine after some sleep. That’s if he’d be able to even shut his eyes.

“Yeah,” he kind of lied. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, Rich.”

Richie nodded slowly, “Okay. Well, uh… if you need anything, I’m in the end room.”

“Thanks.” Eddie smiled, feeling just a teeny, tiny bit awkward. If he was being honest, he wanted Richie to say fuck it and just come into his room with him. He wanted Richie to go to bed with him, and hold him, and tell stupid jokes until he fell asleep. But that might be even more awkward, wouldn’t it? “Uh… goodnight then.”

“Yeah,” Richie perked up, waving at Eddie like an absolute moron. Little did Eddie know he was having the exact same thoughts. He wanted more than anything to be with Eddie that night. “Night, Eds.”

As Richie turned to leave, he just heard Eddie shout at him. “It’s Eddie, asshole!”

Richie grinned to himself, and practically skipped the rest of the way to his room.

Neither of them could fall asleep. For a few hours the two of them were laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, thoughts floating around in their heads keeping them wide awake. Sure, they were thinking of later on when they’d have to face Pennywise, but what they both were thinking about more were each other.

Richie was pretty sure he was still in love with Eddie. No, scratch that, he was a hundred percent sure he was still madly, and immensely in love with Eddie Kaspbrak. It didn’t take a fucking scientist to figure that one out. Since he’d seen him for the first time in twenty-three years, he’d taken one look at him and yeah, he was a goner. Again. He was still as adorable and sweet as ever, still as feisty and stubborn, still bickered with Richie like an old married couple. It was like nothing had changed at all, and it made his insides turn to freaking mush.

Richie sighed heavily in his bed, turning over onto his stomach and faceplanting the pillow. Man, it was hot in there, too hot. The comedian growled into the cushion, and in frustration he essentially flew out of bed and very ungracefully yanked his t-shirt over his head and threw it over his shoulder.

“Fuck sake!” he kicked at the nearest object which just happened to be a table, which was also the rashest idea he’d had all night. “Mother fuck!” Richie hissed as his big toe thwacked it so hard it clicked sickeningly. “Uuuurgh!”

Richie fell back down onto the bed whilst clutching his toe, rocking back and forth from the stinging pain. He’d forgotten how bloody painful hitting your toes on a cupboard could be. It seemed to die down after he rubbed it for a minute or two, and gave it a slight wiggle. With a deep sigh he put his foot back down and flopped onto his back, spread out like a starfish on the king-sized bed, once again back to where he’d started. Thinking about Eddie.

Should he go and see if he was okay? Should he go talk to him about all this? Should he just fuck it all and just kiss the shit out of him and declare his undying love for him? Richie snorted at that, if only life was a damn fairy tale and it were that easy. Eddie was probably sound asleep by now, not even thinking about him whatsoever, and brushing off their almost kiss earlier like it was just something they both needed to keep them sane. He was also probably thinking how absolutely insane this situation was, and how daft it would be to just get back together with Richie like they hadn’t seen or remembered each other for more than half their lives.

Richie groaned. “Fuck my life.”

What Richie got completely wrong, was, well, everything. Because at the same time, Eddie was in fact still awake, pacing back and forth in his room, his head about ready to go boom from all the thoughts and feelings and god damn emotions he was feeling. He was scared and anxious, confused and tired, excited and overwhelmed. God, he felt like a big ball of pure mess. And to top it off, all he could think of was him and Richie had almost kissed in the lounge!

And he’d wanted it. Boy, he’d wanted Richie to kiss him so bad. He’d come to the decision that yes, he was still in love with the other man, and his dumb jokes, and bad timing, and big ass glasses, and he just so happened to have turned out to be as handsome as he was as a kid. He hadn’t changed one bit, and he was incredibly happy for it. Not to mention Richie didn’t think twice earlier about being there for him, holding his hand, holding him in his arms, coming to his aid when he was in trouble. It was just like the good old days. That was a good sign, right?

“Uuuuurgh!” Eddie rumbled, pulling at his hair as he continued to go back and forth.

He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to go to Richie, he wanted to tell him he loved him after all this time, he wanted to kiss him and be like they were when they were teenagers. But would that be too soon? Too weird?

“Get yourself together, Eddie!” He said to himself, swinging his arms around now. “Should I go? Fuck, I don’t know! Does he feel the same? I mean… he did lean in to kiss me earlier! That must mean something, right?” he let out another growl and started fiddling with the lace on his pyjama bottoms. “Maybe I should just go there… talk to him… I mean… we could die tomorrow!”

Eddie abruptly stopped his pacing then, freezing on the spot. “We could die tomorrow.” He repeated.

Which was the truth. Any one of them could be killed by Pennywise, just like Stanley. They’ve all been brought back together after all this time, he and Richie have been brought back together, and all that could be taken away the very next day. Anything could happen. He had to tell Richie.

“Fuck it!” Eddie suddenly had a new found determination, because yeah, he could be six feet under pretty soon (as much as that freaked him the fuck out) without having told Richie he still loved him, and spent his last night on earth with him.

So, plucking up the courage, Eddie smoothed down his t-shirt, took a deep breath, and walked out the door. He carefully shut it behind him so not to disturb the others, and as soundlessly as he could Eddie went straight for Richie’s door. And when he got there he raised his hand to knock, freezing for two minutes to cool down, then, he rapped his knuckles against the wood and waited.

Richie, on the other side of the door had still been laying there spread out across the bed, long limbs almost hanging over the sides. He was debating with himself whether he was going to try and knock himself out and get some sleep ready for clown killing, or get his ass up and stop being a dumbass coward and go see Eddie. Well, that decision was made for him when there came a soft knock at the door.

Richie shot up into a sitting position, frowning as he moved his gaze to the bedroom door. He was either imagining it, Pennywise was paying him a late-night visit to shove him into an early grave, or… Richie practically bounced up off the bed, and ran for the door, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. As he got to the door he put his hand on the handle, and exhaled loudly. With one quick turn and a pull, Richie was opening the bedroom door, to reveal Eddie behind it, looking up at him with his dark, wide eyes.

“Eddie?” Richie barely whispered.

Eddie didn’t say a word. He looked like he was thinking deeply about something for just a couple of seconds, and before Richie could ask him if everything was okay, Eddie’s lips were on his and his hands on his face. Richie blinked a couple of times before he even comprehended, holy shit, Eddie was pressed up against him and kissing him and he was just standing there like a statue. So, Richie swiftly infolded Eddie up securely in his arms as he pushed the door shut, and kissed him back, holding back a moan as he felt Eddie’s tongue skim his bottom lip.

And Eddie, man, he should have done this sooner. The minute Richie had opened his door, dressed in nothing but freaking pyjama bottoms that hung loosely on his hips, he couldn’t control himself. And now, he couldn’t stop, Richie was kissing him back with just as much passion and it felt _incredible_. He can’t remember the last time he felt this way, all hot and bothered, and _shameless_. Eddie wasn’t holding back, he let out a moan that sent pleasure straight to Richie’s dick.

“Jesus _fucking_ Christ.” Richie groaned, as they pulled apart, hands still exploring and lips unable to stay apart. “Fuck Eds!” Richie said between kisses.

“Don’t…. call me that.” Eddie breathed out, going in for another kiss.

Richie just smiled into the kiss, pulling him closer if possible. Neither of them were showing any signs of slowing down, and basically, they didn’t want to. Eddie had decided there and then that he wanted Richie, he wanted more than a kiss, he wanted _him_ entirely. Man, he’d never been so turned on in his life.

Eddie nipped at the bottom of Richie’s lip, pulling back just slightly to whisper. “ _Fuck_ me.”

Richie almost dropped him out of his embrace at those words, and couldn’t help but let out a moan in response. “Shit, Eddie!” he shivered, as Eddie’s hands ran down his chest. “Warn a guy before you say something like that.”

“I mean it!” Eddie said, pushing Richie back onto the bed, his knees knocking the side of it and he fell down. Eddie climbed into his lap, kissing him long, and hard. “I want you, Rich.”

“I want you too, Eddie.” Richie sighed into the kiss.

The next thing they knew Eddie was on his back and Richie was on top of him, and neither of them were clothed. Their hands explored each other, relearning, remembering, memorising every touch. They kissed like they’d never kissed before, making up for all those years apart.

And as Eddie felt Richie enter him, he bit down on his bottom lip, moaning deep in his throat. His hands brought Richie’s face closer, kissing him tenderly on the lips. “I love you, Rich.” He spoke softly. “Fuck, I love you. I’ve missed you.”

Richie held him close as he rocked into him, “I love you too, Eddie. I’ve always loved you.”

And for once that night, it was like the last twenty-three years hadn’t happened.


	4. The Clubhouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The first half of this chapter is just Richie and Eddie being soppy gits in bed.

Eddie awoke to the sound of really annoying birds outside the window, chirping away like nobody was trying to get some shut eye nearby, not to mention the humming of the electrics that definitely weren’t that loud last night. He felt awfully warm and cosy in the darkened room, wrapped up in his quilt and the press of someone’s body up against him, their arm resting on his hip and breath ghosting across the back of his neck. Eddie hummed quietly to himself, trying to sink further into the pillow. That was until his eyes shot open, because, well, someone was most definitely sprawled naked behind him if the tell-tale signs of a certain male organ pressed into his ass cheek was anything to go by.

Eddie almost bolted upright, instead opting to pushing himself up by the elbow and turning around. He let out a heavy sigh, and could have hit himself for his idiocy. For a second there he’d completely forgotten where he was, and about the crazy day he’d had yesterday, and how he and Richie had spent a few hours last night getting re-acquainted. He hadn’t woken up that peaceful in years, so it made his head go a bit mushy and a little too relaxed.

Eddie just shook his head and lay back down, glad he hadn’t woken Richie from his movement. The hypochondriac carefully turned onto his side to face the older man, their noses almost touching, and being as gentle as he could he lifted his hand to push a strand of hair back behind Richie’s ear that was dangling down. Eddie smiled to himself, tracing his fingers lightly across Richie’s stubbled chin.

It felt unreal to be where he was. For the last twenty-three years he wouldn’t have imagined being here, for one he didn’t remember even growing up in Derry or his relationship with Richie, and also, he always thought he’d grow up alone, forever trapped in his mother’s house, living the same old routine each and every day until he died. But now, that assumption had been shattered. In a way, he was kind of glad they had to come back to Derry to kill the clown, because if they hadn’t, he wouldn’t be back in Richie’s arms and had the chance to live a life he’s always wanted.

Last night had been the best night of his life. He hadn’t felt so loved and wanted in so long, and being with Richie again, it made him feel alive, and happy. God, he was so happy. Richie had always made sure of that.

“Mmmm.”

Eddie swiftly drew his hand back like he’d been shocked, as Richie’s eyes opened groggily. The comedian removed his hand from Eddie’s waist, using it to rub at his eyes behind his glasses, “Fuck,” he grumbled sleepily, letting his hand flop back down onto the bed cover. “Left my glasses on.”

“You did.” Eddie said, almost laughing at the confused look Richie was giving him. “Sorry I woke you.”

“You didn’t…” Richie mumbled, adjusting his glasses and still looking at the younger man like he was some kind of alien. “Am I dreaming?”

Eddie smiled then, letting out a soft chuckle. “No, you’re not, dumbass.”

“Really?” Richie frowned, because who knew, Pennywise liked to fuck with them and this was too good to be true. “Last night wasn’t some alcohol induced dream? I didn’t get drugged? Am I high, in a coma or both?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, moving his leg in between the other man’s as proof, leaning over to kiss him on the lips passionately to give him more of an indication that he wasn’t an illusion. “It was definitely real, Rich.”

“Holy fuck.” Richie said simply, lips tingling. He had no idea how his shitty comedian on the road, every night alcohol splurge, daily smoking, no social interaction life turned into this, but damn, Eddie was here and Eddie was his again, and Eddie was doing that cute smile where his dimples stood out and his lips tilted to the side and his eyes fucking shone like a damn Disney princess. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

Eddie groaned, rolling onto his stomach to hide his face. “Shut up, Trashmouth.”

Richie grinned, sliding his hand up Eddie’s back before leaning across to kiss him between his shoulder blades, because, holy mother of God, he could totally do that now. “Still hate it when I compliment you, huh? Seems like nothing’s changed, Eddie Spaghetti.”

“If nothing’s changed,” Eddie began, holding his head up to glare at him. “Then you’ll know if you call me that again I’ll kick your ass.”

“Oh,” Richie smirked. “Kinky.”

Eddie groaned loudly, faceplanting the pillow again. “Why did I come into your room again?” he grumbled into the fabric, barely audible.

“To have the greatest sex of your life.” Richie said so serious, Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. “What?”

Eddie shook his head, moving back onto his side. “Wasn’t that bad I suppose.”

Richie snorted; he knew that was totally a lie. Eddie was practically putty in his hands last night, not to mention the amount of times he’d moaned Richie’s name like it were a fucking chant, he smiled at the memory. “Pfft, please, I’m the best you’ve ever had.”

“Well…” Eddie grinned, going along with the game.

“Actually,” Richie cut in, putting a hand over Eddie’s mouth. “Don’t want to know, I’m just going to pretend you’ve only ever slept with me.”

Eddie couldn’t blame him, he didn’t exactly want to know about Richie’s sex life in the past either. All that mattered was the two of them. “Good point, you make sense for once.”

“Oh, look at you being all sassy.” Richie chuckled, pulling Eddie into his arms and beginning to plant soft kisses down his neck. “I’ve missed my little sassy Eddie.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm,” Richie hummed, leg twitching as he felt Eddie’s hand brush his lower abdomen. “You’re mine, nobody else gets to touch my Eddiekins.”

“Urrrgh,” Eddie whined as Richie kissed him. “That’s the worst nickname to date.”

Richie grinned from ear to ear, “It’s my favourite.”

“It would be.” Eddie rolled his eyes for the second time, sighing as he felt Richie slip his hand past his lower back. “Mmm… Richie?” Eddie called, grabbing Richie’s face in his hands and pushing him back, and in all seriousness asked, “I uh… am I yours now? I mean…” Eddie bit his bottom lip, feeling his face flush. “Um… am I uh your… your…”

“Boyfriend?” Richie finished for him, not being able to contain the smile at how adorable Eddie looked with his blushing cheeks.

“Yeah,” Eddie looked away, feeling embarrassed. He knew it was stupid, but he just wanted to know if Richie wanted what he did. “I just… I don’t know… are we going too fast?” Eddie huffed then as he heard Richie chuckling next to him. Typical, he couldn’t take at least one thing seriously. “Really, dickwad?”

“You’re just so…” Richie laughed, pinching Eddie’s cheek. “Cute, cute cute!”

“Stop!” Eddie growled, slapping his hand away, before turning away from Richie in a mood. “I hate it when you do that!”

“Oh come on,” Richie said, not phased in the slightest by Eddie’s little tantrum. He shuffled closer, lining them up, before wrapping his arms around the smaller man, leaving a kiss behind his ear. “You loved it when I did that as a kid, admit it.”

“No.” Eddie grumbled. “Fuck off.”

“Love you too.”

And that seemed to soften Eddie up. The younger man untensed in his arms, shutting his eyes with an exhalation as Richie nipped at his shoulder. He knew exactly how to turn his mood around, damn it. “You do?”

“Course I do, you moron.” Richie chuckled again, nibbling at his ear this time, already feeling the way Eddie relaxed and turned to mush at his touch. “I wasn’t laughing at you Eddie, I was laughing because I thought it was pretty obvious we were boyfriends now, especially after what we did last night.” Richie grinned at one particular thing they’d done last night, and added, “Twice.”

Eddie hummed, finally turning back around in Richie’s arms to face him. “You make a good point. You’re getting good at that.”

Richie answered him with a kiss to the lips. “Besides, we didn’t exactly break up when we were kids, so _technically_ I’ve been your boyfriend this whole time.”

Eddie laughed at that, because well, it wasn’t a lie. And damn it, he literally couldn’t stay mad at Richie for more than five seconds, especially when he was running his freaking hands all over him in that minute. Eddie moaned low in his throat as Richie put a hand between his legs, his fingers sweeping along his thighs, gently teasing.

“So, boyfriend,” Richie smirked, the quiet mewling sounds coming from Eddie making his dick twitch. “What do you want to do before we gotta get up? We’ve not got long before the sun rises.”

It was Eddie’s turn to answer him with a kiss, snaking his hands into his messy hair to pull him closer, deepening the kiss. Richie moaned this time when Eddie bit his bottom lip and slipped his tongue in, gasping inward when he felt the smaller man’s hand wrap around his cock.

“Yep,” Richie heaved a sigh as Eddie pulled back from the kiss, smiling sweetly, like he hadn’t just done something so sinful. “I think I get the idea.”

“Good.” Eddie hummed. “Now shut up.”

Eddie pushed Richie onto his back without much effort, crawling into his lap to kiss him senseless. And five minutes later, when Eddie was sinking down onto his dick, Richie was seeing stars. That morning was turning out to be better than they’d envisioned.

That was until, not long after, the sky started to lighten, and Eddie could see the clock on the bedside table flash five thirty-six. He tried to snuggle further into Richie’s side, as he laid his head on his chest, his arm draped around his chest. The sun was so close to rising, and that meant they’d have to leave to face reality, which Eddie really didn’t want. He wanted to stay in that room all day with Richie, pretending there wasn’t a killer clown outside of that house, ready and waiting for them.

Richie was having the same thoughts. He’d do anything to just stay where they were, spend the entire day stuck in the bed with Eddie. But he knew, just like the other man, that there was no other option but to go down to meet the other Losers, and face what they’d been brought there to do.

Richie let out a heavy sigh at the thought. “Sun’s almost up.”

“Don’t remind me.” Eddie hid his face in the crook of Richie’s neck.

Richie grumbled, placing a kiss atop of Eddie’s dishevelled hair. “You think Pennywise can reschedule his torture?”

“God, don’t say ITs name.” Eddie huffed, already visioning the chaos that would undoubtably happen in the upcoming hours. He wasn’t looking forward to stepping out the door. “I’d rather not think about it until we actually get up.”

“Hmmm. Ten more minutes then.” Richie shut his eyes, trying to get Pennywise out of his head. Instead, he tried to think back to when he was a kid, when he lived back in Derry, hung out with the Losers, and his time with Eddie. The memory that stood out the most made him smile. “Hey, Edsie Spaghedsie?”

“Mind trying that again?” Eddie murmured, not sounding amused.

Richie grinned, “Remember when we misplaced our virtue?”

“Oh God,” Eddie snorted, smacking him on the shoulder. “Please don’t ever say that again.”

“How should I say it?” Richie teased. “When we gained our manhood? Lost our V-status? Got our sticks wet for the-,”

“Richie, if you don’t shut up I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Richie laughed, “Made love sound better?”

“Getting there,” Eddie answered, shifting his hand to lay across the comedian’s heart. “And yeah, I vaguely remember that night.” He said, bits and pieces suddenly coming back to him. “It was the night before I left, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Richie gurgled, but continued trying not to think about that part. “We spent the whole day together; I first took you out to the diner for breakfast. We shared that huge waffle platter.”

“Shit, yeah,” Eddie laughed. He pictured a seventeen-year-old Richie’s chin covered in chocolate sauce and cream, as he laughed at the sight. “Pretty sure we had to lay down after that. We went to the Quarry afterwards, right?”

“Yep,” Richie smiled at the memory. “We laid on the grass for ages, before we decided to go for a last swim. You saved me from drowning!”

“You faked it, asshole.” Eddie scoffed, remembering clearly, because Richie had almost given him a heart attack. “You pretended to drown so I’d give you mouth to mouth!”

“Worked though.” Richie grinned innocently, as Eddie looked up with a glare. Although looks could kill, he knew Eddie was dying to laugh. “And if I do remember correctly, we met up with Mike to go roller skating… and I fell on my ass fifteen times!”

“Serves you right,” Eddie smiled, poking his chest. “Gave me and Mike a good laugh anyways.”

“Rude.” Richie deadpanned.

“You made up for it that night,” Eddie said, kissing Richie on the shoulder. “You literally kicked your parents out the house to make me dinner.”

Richie remembered well, his parents were the best, more than happy to leave for the night to go to a motel, so he and Eddie could spend their last night together alone. “Did burn half the food though.”

“It was the thought that counted.” Eddie smiled, looking up at Richie who leaned down to kiss him. “It was the best day of my life, Rich.”

_“Jesus Christ, my apologies if I end up killing you, Edward.”_

_Eddie scoffed at the nickname, but continued to eat the tortilla anyway, pretending that the meat didn’t taste like socks, and the tortillas weren’t as burnt as a log on a fire. “They’re not that bad.” He lied._

_“Eddie,” Richie lifted his glasses that were sliding down his nose. “You’re face tells me otherwise. You look like you’ve just shit your pants!”_

_Eddie sighed, putting down the tortilla as Richie laughed. “Okay, it’s not great, but the salad is delicious.”_

_“I literally just cut that up.” Richie grinned, seeing Eddie try to swallow the food in his mouth. “Need some water?”_

_“Nope, I’m good.” Eddie coughed into his hand._

_“Mhmm,” Richie chuckled, diving up and out of his chair and collecting both plates on the table. “Luckily, I have a backup.”_

_Turns out, Richie had asked his mom to help him make some spicy dip earlier, along with homemade nachos to go with it. They were one of Eddie’s favourite snacks, so he had no doubt he’d enjoy them. Which he did._

_Eddie and himself ate them pretty quick as they sat on the sofa to watch a movie, the blanket sprawled across their lap covered in crumbs. “Those were so good, Rich.” Eddie said once the bowl was sitting empty on the coffee table. “See, you’re not so bad when you get a little help, you just need some practice.”_

_“Thanks, Eddie.” Richie beamed, slinging his arm around him, pulling him against his side to plant a kiss on top of his head. “You sure do know how to compliment a fella.” He said in a really bad southern accent._

_Eddie rolled his eyes, “Don’t push it, dumbass.”_

_“You love it.”_

_Eddie snorted, looking up at his boyfriend. “I really don’t. Your accents are terrible.”_

_“You wound me, my love!” Richie put a hand to his heart, feigning a gasp._

_Eddie couldn’t help but smile, Richie’s cheerfulness was contagious. “Shut up, dickface.”_

_“Aye aye, shithead.” Richie grinned, sloping down to peck him on the lips._

_Eddie genuinely smiled this time, leaning up for another kiss, and of course Richie wouldn’t deny him that. Their lips met again, but this time they didn’t part, Eddie winding his arm around Richie’s neck to keep him in place. They kissed and kissed, time ticking by, forgetting for a moment what was to come the next day._

_When the clock read ten thirty that night, Eddie pulled away from Richie, biting his lip nervously. “Rich?”_

_“Yeah,” Richie smiled, running his hand through Eddie’s growing curls. “You okay?”_

_Eddie nodded, feeling nervous. “I um… can we uh…” he could feel his face turning red, not knowing how to say what he wanted to say. “I want… I want to um…”_

_“Hey,” Richie said softly, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”_

_Eddie smiled at the nickname, feeling slightly less anxious. “This is our last night together for a… for a long time… I uh… remember when you said we wouldn’t, you know… do anything… until I’m ready.”_

_Richie nodded slowly, not quite understanding. “Do anything?”_

_Eddie nodded back, “You know… sex.”_

_Richie’s eyes widened in realisation, “Oh, yeah! Yeah, Eddie, I meant that. Every word.”_

_“I know,” Eddie said, pulling at the edges of his sleeve, not being able to look Richie in the eye as he said, “I’m ready.”_

_Richie was left speechless, which was a miracle on its own. He knew for certain Eddie wasn’t kidding, because he was blushing so deeply his cheeks were almost matching the colour of the bright red wallpaper in the dining room._

_“Um… Yeah, yeah, okay.” Richie stuttered out, not really knowing what to say, or do. “Yeah. Uh, are you sure, Eddie? I was being serious, you know? I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything. I’ll wait fifty years if I have to!”_

_“No, I know, Rich.” Eddie smiled, grateful for Richie’s caring nature. He reached over to take Richie’s hand in his, “I’m ready, I want this.” He said confidently. “I don’t want to leave tomorrow not knowing…. Not knowing what it would be like and… and I don’t want to wait until we see each other again.”_

_Richie nodded, suddenly feeling nervous himself. “Yeah, okay, um… where… I mean… do you want to… now?”_

_Eddie bit his lip again, thinking. “Y-yeah, yeah I guess.”_

_“Right,” Richie said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Okay then, uh, my room?”_

_Eddie nodded in reply, just as Richie moved the blanket off their lap, and almost tripped over his feet as he stood. He took Eddie’s hand in his and led him up the stairs, both boys feeling the flutter in their stomachs. As they approached Richie’s room, they went inside and stood awkwardly in the middle of it, not saying a word._

_“Oh,” Richie snapped his fingers, running to the bedside lamp to switch it on. “Can’t see a thing.” He laughed nervously._

_“Yeah.” Eddie hummed, playing with the hem of his jumper._

_“So,” Richie said, looking over at his bed, wondering if he should do something. “Uh, shall we uh, I don’t know, kiss or?”_

_Eddie nodded slowly, feeling his hands shake as Richie approached him. It wasn’t like it was the first time Richie was going to kiss him, but boy did he feel like he was going to throw up. As Richie put his arms around his waist, and pulled him in for a kiss, Eddie felt a little bit better, shyly placing his hands on Richie’s shoulders. And when Richie’s hand snuck under his sweater, touching his warm skin, Eddie gasped against his lips, and jumped back._

_“Shit!” Richie swore, looking worried. “Sorry, Eddie, I should have asked first!”_

_“It’s fine, idiot.” Eddie chuckled, putting Richie’s hand back where it was. “Your hands are cold, that’s all.”_

_“Oh,” Richie grinned, rubbing his hand up and down Eddie’s back gently. “Is it okay if I um… can I?” he gestured to Eddies jumper, tugging on the ends. “Is that okay?”_

_“Yeah.” Eddie nodded again, not realising he was holding his breath as Richie grabbed the bottom of the fabric, and lifted the jumper over his head._

_When they grew less nervous, and kissed a little more, they each removed each other’s shirts, before taking off their own trousers. In just their pants the couple got into bed, kissing some more, and becoming more confident as they explored one another, getting more into it as Richie covered Eddie’s body with his own._

_Turns out, losing your virginity wasn’t as horrifying as a lot of people made it out to be. In fact, Richie was pretty sure it was in the list of top ten things him and Eddie had ever done. Afterwards, the pair lay in bed, Eddie resting on Richie’s chest as the older boy played with his hair, feeling the happiest he’d ever felt._

_“Did I hurt you?” Richie asked as Eddie ran a hand down his chest, sounding concerned._

_Eddie frowned, looking up at his boyfriend, “Of course not.”_

_“You sure?” Richie asked again, kissing his hair._

_“I’m sure, Rich.”_

_“Okay, good.” Richie smiled, tugging Eddie closer. “It was good though, right? Not bad for two virgins ey?”_

_Eddie chuckled, shaking his head at Richie’s silliness. “Yes, Richie,” he answered, getting up onto his elbow to lean down, kissing Richie to shut him up. “It was the best.”_

_Richie grinned even wider._

“Funny that,” Richie smiled playfully, running a hand through Eddie’s hair. “Was the best day of mine too.” He said, before adding. “Today too, I mean, I can have two best days, right?”

Eddie nodded, “Sounds good to me.”

“Good.”

“Hey, Richie?”

Eddie and Richie almost jumped up in surprise, Bill’s voice coming from behind the door. They breathed a sigh of relief as they realised, relaxing a bit more, they didn’t have to be on edge just yet.

“Yeah?” Richie called back.

“You up?” Bill asked, sounding tired himself. Maybe he hadn’t slept through the night. “Sun’s almost up, meet in twenty minutes?”

“Yeah sure,” Richie said, looking at the clock that now read six-ten. “Just got to take a quick shower.”

He winked down at Eddie who just rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what his plans were. But, the two stiffened when Bill spoke his next words.

“Have you seen Eddie? He’s not in his room.”

“Uhhh…” Richie droned, sharing a look with Eddie, neither of them knowing what to do. They didn’t exactly have to keep their relationship from the Losers, yet, it would have been nice to keep it to themselves for a while. Not that Richie would have been able to contain himself when Eddie was around. But Eddie shrugged, feeling the same obviously, so Richie just told Bill the truth. “He’s in here.”

There was silence for a short time, before Bill reacted. “Oh,” they could hear the smugness in his voice as he said, “Morning Eddie.”

Eddie groaned in embarrassment, practically faceplanting into Richie’s chest. “Morning Bill.” He murmured.

“See you guys soon.” They could just about hear the laughter in Bill’s voice, before his noiseless footsteps disappeared down the hall.

“So,” Richie broke the silence after a few seconds, grinning down at Eddie. “Fancy a shower, Eduardo?”

Eddie flicked him on the nose.

It took the two of them exactly seventeen minutes, and forty-five seconds before they were fully dressed, and ready to go. Nine of those minutes spent making out like a couple of teenagers in the shower, and soaping each other down like they were in a bad porn movie, as Richie had put it. By the time they were sticking their shoes on, and slipping on their jackets, the sun was minutes away from rising.

“Hurry up, Richie.” Eddie called to the other man as he opened the door, almost rolling his eyes as Richie began skipping around the room, trying to put on his second shoe. “God, give me strength.”

Richie just grinned as the two left the room, “Calm down, Mom.”

Eddie was about to retort when something caught their attention out of the corner of their eyes, and they both froze in the hallway, slowly turning to see what it was. Turns out it was the Losers, who looked ready to go, standing outside Bill’s room quietly as they watched Richie and Eddie. They all smirked knowingly, the smug bastards.

“Have fun last night?” Bev grinned, noticing the deep red blush creeping its way up Eddie’s cheeks.

Richie, of course, couldn’t help himself. “We had sex.” He declared cheerfully, as Eddie choked and yelled his name, thumping him on the arm. “Three times!” Richie mouthed.

“Richie!” Eddie told him off again, as Richie practically sprinted to join the other Losers, ducking out of Eddie’s reach. “Fucker!”

The Losers just laughed at their antics, every single one of them beyond pleased to see the two back together, just as it should be. As Mike lead them down the stairs, out the door and into the dimly lit streets, Richie took Eddie’s hand in his and knew he was forgiven.

Mike took the group through the town at a steady pace, pointing out buildings, shops and houses they’d know, talking quietly about the things they’d done as kids around there, like buying their favourite snacks from the sweet shop next to the hairdressers. As the sun was finally in the sky, Mike went down a few familiar streets, then onto some fields, and under two main bridges that Bill had instantly recalled.

The friends swiftly formed into single file, as it was easier to trek down the hills, and through the woods, careful to avoid any rough paths along the way. Eventually, the Losers came upon a river, flowing silently down the woodland area, out from a tunnel buried deep into the hill. Ben didn’t mention how spooky it was, or how uncomfortable it made Bev feel just looking into it, so they carried on, nobody speaking a word as they climbed over rocks and large stones across the river, trying not to get too wet.

Within minutes, Mike had taken them to a very familiar territory, a flat space of grass and dirt, surrounded by long, overgrown plants and trees, sunlight peeking through and the sound of a waterfall nearby.

“The Barrens.” Bev said out loud, recognition dawning on everyone. They all knew exactly where they were.

“This is where we came to,” Ben smiled, looking around. “After that rock fight with Bowers.”

A lightbulb flickered on in Richie’s head, “The clubhouse!”

The others laughed and grinned, as Bev said to Ben, “You built it for us.”

“He did!” Eddie chuckled, as Richie pulled him further over to the empty space.

“Hatch should be over here, right?” Richie said, as the others followed, looking for where the entrance to their clubhouse could be. “Over here?”

They gazed around the area, hoping to find some kind of clue to where it was. But, it wasn’t anywhere to be found. Until Ben walked down a bit of a slope, and started to tap his foot on the ground.

“Actually,” he said, earning everyone’s attention. “I think maybe it was more around here.”

As he said it, Ben went falling straight down into the earth, disappearing out of sight without a word. The Losers looked on in surprise, nobody moving.

“So, uh,” Richie said casually. “Should someone check if he’s okay?”

As Richie said it, Ben’s voice called from down below. “Found it. Come on down!”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Bev was first to climb down the ladder, closely followed by Mike, who helped Bill make his way down, then came Richie who found it a bit more difficult to climb down since he was twice as tall. Lastly, Eddie cautiously scaled the wooden ladder, thinking of how unstable the place could be after all those years.

Richie met him on the bottom, taking his hand to help him down the last step. The two took in their bearings then, and couldn’t believe the place was still standing. Everyone looked around in awe, at how some posters were still dangling on the walls, boxes of goodies were sitting where they’d left them, and bits and bobs were hanging off the hooks in the pillars. The place was covered in dirt and dust with no light or places to sit, but it was their clubhouse, just how it had been.

Richie shared a smile with his boyfriend, before slowly walking around, hands in his pockets, and chuckling at the pile of blankets that he’d dubbed the Granny covers. They weren’t in terrific shape, but you could still see the flowery, old fashioned design splattered across them. He remembered sharing one of them with Eddie once, as they all gathered there one night for some snacks and games. He found it so hard not to blush whenever Eddie would rest his head on his shoulder that evening, Bev grinning at him from across the room every time. Richie took a glance over at Eddie and smiled, little Richie would have been thrilled to know that weeks later the hypochondriac would become more than just his friend.

As Richie continued to doddle around the room, Eddie suddenly had a memory as his eye caught a gap in the floorboards, of how he’d freaked out the first time he’d come here, complaining about the structure of it and how Ben would be reliable if anything happened. He chuckled to himself, moving over to bend down next to some boxes in a corner. He looked down into the gap and reached his hand inside, pulling out a red ping-pong ball, blowing off the dust surrounding it.

“God,” Ben laughed beside him as he saw him do it. “I remember that, cost me three bucks.”

“Sorry.” Eddie apologised, the two laughing.

“Hey, look at all these.” Bill said, holding up a couple of clear jars. They were both half-filled with sweets, some mixture of hard candy and gummies. “The candy Mike’s grandad got us from the Farmer’s market out of town.”

“Oh yeah,” Mike chuckled, taking one jar and giving it a shake. His grandad had brought back their favourites, after Mike had practically begged him to get them, trying to convince him it wasn’t just for Mike. “He brought back six jars; we ate four within three days.”

The others laughed at the memory, before turning their attention to a stack of comics that looked a little on the ancient artefacts side. They were all smothered in soil and grime, and crinkled easily as they lifted them into their hands. Bev was just about to hand one over to Ben, before an unnerving, familiar voice came from the dark passageway in the wall of the clubhouse, everyone facing it as it spoke.

_“Hey Losers!”_

Their blood ran cold, and shivers crept down their spines. Mike grabbed for a baseball bat leaning against the wall, as the rest froze in place, eyes scanning the darkness.

“ _Time to float!”_

Ben tripped back wards over a box he hadn’t seen as he kept his eyes in front, as Bev moved to hide behind the nearest pillar, the others had nowhere to go but to stay there, and prepare for whatever was to come through that tunnel.

What they weren’t expecting was Richie, who came sauntering out of the darkness, laughing his head off like it was the greatest joke he’d told to date.

“Fuck, Richie!” Bill sighed, not amused even a tad bit.

Neither were the others by the looks on their faces. Eddie gave him the deadliest glare he could muster, almost about to throw a book he held right at his dumbass boyfriend’s head.

“Remember he used to say that shit?” Richie grinned, not phased at all. “He’d do that stupid dance!” He began to move his arms back and forth in a dance, putting on the silliest faces and singing along. “Am I the only one who got that?”

Eddie sighed, as the other Losers went back to what they were doing. “Are you going to be like this the entire time that we’re home?”

Richie’s shoulders sagged, and he inhaled deeply. “Alright, just trying bring some fun to all this shit.” He said, feeling a tad guilty, especially when Eddie was looking at him like that. “I’ll just go fuck myself then.”

As Richie walked away whistling, Eddie rolled his eyes at him, going back to browsing through the box he’d found. Meanwhile, the others, pretending what Richie had done had never happened, took a better look around the place. Bev came across an old book the Losers had drawn in, as Ben and Mike found some old tapes they used to listen too, and Bill, he picked up an old tin that he couldn’t quite remember what was stored inside.

“Hey guys,” he called the others, showing them the rusted tin. “It’s got Stan’s name on it. It says, for the use of Losers only.”

They all shared a look, not one of them could recall what Stan had been hiding inside it, not even Mike. For some reason, they all became very weary. What if it was a trap? Could Pennywise have set it up? Eddie moved closer to Richie, who guided Eddie to stand behind him, wanting to protect him from whatever fuckery could go down at any moment. They all held their breaths as Bill wrapped his hand around the lid.

When he opened it up, Bill laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Richie asked, confused at the reaction.

Bill merely tugged out a flowery shower cap, waving it in the air. “Stan’s genius idea to protect us from spiders.”

“Holy shit!” Richie laughed, taking one from Bill.

“No way.” Eddie smiled, as Bill handed him another. The exact same one Stan had handed him as a kid. “Can’t believe they’re still here.”

“Yeah,” Bev said, as she collected one, and went to sit down on one of the old, dusty pillows. “I remember what he said that day, when we were talking about graduation, about us being friends forever.”

“Me too,” Ben began, looking down at the pink, and purple shower cap in his hand. “he thought we’d be different, and we’d grow apart.”

“Took some convincing for him to believe us.” Bill sighed softly, placing Stan’s own cap on top of the tin. “He was so…”

“Sad.” Bev finished for him, letting out her own sigh. “He was old before his time.”

Eddie hated this talk about Stan, speaking about him in past tense, reminding him that one of his closest friends was actually gone. “I wonder what he was like all grown up.”

Richie could see the look of anguish in Eddie’s eyes, and drew him into his side. “My guess is just what he was like as a kid,” he said, kissing Eddie’s forehead. “The best.”

The place when deadly silent as the Losers thought of their friend, wishing he could be there with them, that the Losers could all be back together for this final showdown. But Pennywise had taken him, just like he’d taken Georgie and countless other children and people of Derry. The Losers were going to get that clown for what it had done.

“Alright, Mike,” Richie broke the silence, hating the creepy feeling he got when nobody was talking. “Why’d you bring us here?”

“The ritual,” Mike stated, taking a stance in front of everyone, hoping they’d understand what he was about to tell them. “When we perform it, it requires a sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?” Richie repeated, pointing a finger at his boyfriend. “How about Eddie?”

Eddie’s eyes widened as he realised what Richie had said, “Wait, what?” he screeched, pushing Richie away from him.

“You’re little,” Richie said in all seriousness, shrugging. “You could fit on a barbecue, like a little roast chicken.”

Eddie glared at him, “I’m five-nine, you piece of shit. That’s, like, average height for most of the world!”

Bill quickly jumped in, before the two could start bickering like an old married couple again. “That’s not what he means, guys, not that kind of sacrifice.”

Mike was grateful for Bill’s interruption, so he continued, explaining as best he could. “Our past is buried, and you’re all going to have to dig deep to find it. Piece by piece, and these pieces, artefacts then, it’s them that you’ll sacrifice. They’re the reason we’re here. Since Stan isn’t here to get his, I thought we could find his for him, together.”

Eddie nodded, putting the shower cap he held onto his head. “Think Bill’s already done that.”

After Mike had easily explained what they were there for, and why they needed their artefacts, it was time for them to get out of there and waste no more time wondering around the clubhouse, and go on to their next pursuit. As Mike helped Bill get out of the clubhouse entry, all eyes were on him.

“So, Mike,” Eddie was first to speak, stuffing Stan’s shower cap into his pocket. “Where the hell do we find our own tokens?”

“Yeah,” Richie said with a shrug, he was ready to say fuck it to this shit, and get the hell home. “No offence man, but this all sounds really stupid, okay? Why in the hell do we even need tokens? We remember everything! Saving Eds, defeating IT… we’re pretty much caught up, dude.”

“Not everything,” Mike quickly cut in, before Richie popped a blood vessel. “We fought, before Neibolt. Do you remember what happened before that? Think about it.”

Bill looked around, and could see his friends looked just as confused and baffled as he felt, which only meant, “We can’t remember.”

“See, there’s more to it, to our story.” Mike said positively. “There’s blank spaces, things you can’t remember from that summer. You need to figure that out, remember what happened to you when we were apart. We need to split up, and find our tokens separately, that’s important. When you do, meet me at the library tonight.”

Eddie wasn’t having it, no way. “You know, statistically, when you look at survival scenarios, we’re going to have a much better survival rate if we stick together as a group.”

Richie nodded in agreement, more to the point, there was no way in hell he was letting Eddie from his sight. “Yep, splitting up is a dumb idea, man.” He said. “We we’re together that summer, right?”

“No.” Bill answered, everyone’s attention turning to him. “Not for all that summer.”

They tried to remember, all of them did. Eddie knew he’d broken his arm at Neibolt, having to stay indoors for what felt like forever, his mother trapping him in the house because she didn’t trust his friends. But what he didn’t know, was that he wasn’t the only one alone, that the Losers really did get split up for a few days.

“We fought.” Richie murmured, remembering Mikes words from earlier. “Me and Bill, you punched me, you fucker.”

Bill smiled, nodding. “We all split up after that, went our separate ways until…”

“Until Pennywise paid me a visit.” Eddie shivered at the memory. He’d been in his room, bored out of his mind, hoping Richie would come and save him by climbing up to his window. All he’d done was turn around in his chair, and Pennywise was there, big, bloody smile in place, before Eddie was knocked out.

“Those are the parts you need to remember.” Mike assured them, already knowing where he’d find his. “Visits those places, find your tokens, and meet me later, yeah?”

Everyone nodded, not pleased with the idea, but not really having a choice. Before they divided up, they all came in for a group hug, saying their goodbyes, and promising to meet up as soon as they were done.

Richie and Eddie were glued to their spots as everyone else started walking off in different directions. They looked at each other, and came to a conclusion.

“He never said we had to be alone the _entire_ time.” Richie said, holding out his hand.

Eddie didn’t hesitate to take it. “Nope.”

So, the two walked together to their destinations, sticking together until they had no choice but to be torn apart.


	5. The Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Homophobic language... I'm sorry :( blame Henry "the fuckface" Bowers.

Being back in the town of Derry in the daytime was a lot different than being there at night, and when everyone was still asleep during sunrise. Now, it was busy with children running around, cars driving through, people chatting away on the streets, and music playing from inside shops. It was just as Richie and Eddie remembered as they walked down Bakers Street, noticing a few shops had been replaced by different ones, but most of them still had the same old signs across the top.

It was strange in a way, forgetting all about this place for so long, then coming back to it and picking up on little details that they could pinpoint from their childhood. And really, the town wasn’t so bad, they’d always loved the atmosphere around it, the events that took place in the summer, and how everyone knew each other. It was only one thing that made them despise the place, and it was the only reason they’d come back.

“Hey,” Richie caught Eddie’s attention as they came to the end of the road. He looked down the street to their right, and could just about see the battered sign that read ‘Capitol’. “I think I should go check out the arcade.”

“Yeah?” Eddie gulped, knowing he shouldn’t go with him. Mike had said it was important they were alone, and Eddie was pretty sure he knew where _he_ had to be going. “So uh, this where we split?”

Richie grimaced, wanting nothing more than to take Eddie with him and do this together. But, he was going to walk straight into that arcade, find his token, and head straight out to find Eddie again… unless Pennywise had other plans. “I guess. Where you heading?”

“The pharmacy.” Eddie told him. “I have a feeling my inhaler might be it.”

“Alright, well uh,” Richie murmured, scratching the back of his head. “I’ll meet you over there, okay?”

“Yeah.” Eddie practically whispered. For some reason it felt just like when he’d left Derry, like he and Richie were being pulled apart forever again, but he just kept telling himself that it was only for a short while. They’d meet back up in no time, and carry on with their messed-up day. “I’d better go then.”

“Yeah,” Richie nodded, making the first move. He wound his arms around the smaller man’s shoulders and yanked him into a hug, sighing as Eddie encircled his waist, his breath tickling his neck. “Be careful, dipshit.”

Eddie hummed, “I will, asshole.” he stepped back a little, putting his hand in his pocket, only to pull out Richie’s old shirt that was folded up nice and neat. “Got my lucky charm.”

Richie grinned, patting his own pocket. “Got mine too.” The two laughed lightly, before Richie trod forward and put his hands on either side of Eddie’s face, and saying seriously, “I love you, Spaghetti Man.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but in the moment he let it slide this time. “I love you too, you big weirdo.”

The comedian bent down to kiss Eddie firmly on the lips, not wanting to let go, but knew time was getting on and he had to. Reluctantly he did pull back, sighing heavily as he stuck his hands in his pockets and covered his hand around the inhaler inside, ready for anything at this point.

Eddie smiled encouragingly up at him, trying to hide the fact that he was scared shitless, and really didn’t want to do this, especially not on his own. With one final look at his boyfriend, Eddie quickly turned away before he changed his mind, and made his way to the park in the centre of the town, to cross over to the pharmacy on the other side. He carefully put Richie’s Hawaiian shirt back into his trouser pocket, and kept his hand atop it the entire way.

Richie watched him leave, not taking his eyes off of him until Eddie was completely out of sight. With a low growl, Richie bent his head back, wanting to punch a damn wall at all this stupid bullshit. But, he decided against it because he might need his hands later on to wrap around a clown’s throat, so instead, Richie headed down the street towards the arcade in more of a sombre mood than ever. And as he drew nearer, he realised the building had been shut down. It wasn’t all colourful and inviting like it had been when he was a kid, nor was it in very good condition judging by the outside of the building.

Every window and glass door had been plastered in newspapers, the paintwork was peeling beyond repair, and even the sign above the entrance looked like it was about to fall to its doom, all the lightbulbs smashed and the letters as rusty as a nail left out in the rain. Luckily, the glass in the door to the entrance had a hole punched in, not surprising with the state of the place. Richie stuck his hand through, pushing down the bar to unlock it, and cautiously pushed it open and went inside. The arcade looked more like a dump than somewhere kids used to hang out and play games, he wouldn’t be surprised if he came across some squatters or teenagers smoking weed in the back room.

The comedian took his time looking around, taking in the spray-painted walls, popcorn and candy wrappers littering the floor, even the arcade games themselves had been totalled, poor things were covered in graffiti. Richie came to a stop in front of one of them, the one game he was brilliant at as a kid, Street Fighter, the ultimate battling game of the eighties. He smiled to himself, remembering the first day it had come out, and he’d headed to the arcade within record time to play it, dragging Eddie along with him who just tagged along for the slushies. They’d stayed there for hours, Eddie finally joining in in the end, not that he’d won many of the games.

Richie turned to find the exact same token machine that was still standing beside the double doors behind his favourite game, a bit dusty and unused, but that didn’t mean it didn’t work. So, he stuffed his hand in his pocket and hauled out a quarter, sticking it into the mechanism. The coin clicked and clanked its way in, before the machine let out a quiet thump, and out popped a silver token from the slot in the bottom. Richie pinched it between his finger and thumb, holding it up to take a closer look, he frowned, trying to think why it felt like something was nagging at him at the back of his head.

Then it hit him. That summer they’d fought It, when they’d all split from the argument outside Eddie’s house, it was Street Fighter he’d played over and over like an obsession, he’d hung out at the arcade almost every single day like it were his second home. Except that time he was on his own, stabbing away at the buttons, pretending it was Bill each time his character threw a punch at his opponent. Until the one person he’d missed having by his side, slurping away at his sugary drink, came bursting through the doors.

_“Richie!”_

_Said boy cursed as he lost his first game that day in Street fighter, giving the stupid machine a kick. He heard his name being called again, closer this time, and was surprised to see Eddie practically running towards him. Richie’s frown quickly turned into a toothy grin._

_“Eddie!” he laughed, breath being knocked out of him as he suddenly had an arm full of his best friend. “Shit, dude, I thought you were on house arrest?”_

_Eddie shrugged as he stepped back, “Had to go to the pharmacy again, got some new stuff to take for my arm.” He said, holding up his plaster to show the other boy._

_“Woah, that’s fucking cool.” Richie skimmed his finger over it, just noticing the writing. “Why’d you write Loser across it?”_

_“I didn’t,” Eddie said, frowning._

_“That bitch at the pharmacy did, didn’t she?”_

_Eddie nodded. “It’s fine, I’ll cross it out or something.”_

_“Hey,” Richie had a thought, thinking he was pure genius, “Why don’t you get a red sharpie and put a ‘V’ over the ‘S’?”_

_“Why the fuck would I do that?” Eddie said confused, just working out that that would change Loser to Lover, which would look just as weird._

_“Because,” Richie grinned, grabbing Eddie’s face between his hands. “You are my Lover!” he joked, feeling Eddie’s cheeks start to burn under his touch._

_Eddie smacked his hands away, “Shut up, dipshit!”_

_Richie just laughed happily, ruffling Eddie’s hair, earning another smack. “Hey, want a game of Street Fighter?”_

_“I can’t,” Eddie sighed, looking as disappointed as Richie felt. He wished more than anything to stay with his friend, but he couldn’t, and it sucked. “I promised mom I’d be back in ten minutes.”_

_“Of course, why am I not surprised?” Richie huffed. That woman really needed to loosen her grip on her son once in a while._

_“But here!” Eddie suddenly jumped into action, remembering what he had laying unused in his pocket from weeks ago. He picked out a small silver coin, waving it around. “I didn’t use my token you got me last time. You can have it.”_

_Richie held out his hand, Eddie placing it into his palm, a jolt running through Richie’s hand as he felt the other boy’s fingers brush his. Thankfully, Eddie didn’t seem to notice him pull his hand back like he’d been shocked, or the sudden pinkness in his cheeks. “Thanks Eddie.” He said hurriedly._

_“No problem,” Eddie smiled sweetly, getting on his tip-toes to give Richie another hug. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?” he asked hopefully._

_“Yeah, I’ll come by your window tomorrow.” Richie said, looking forward to it already._

_“Awesome.” Eddie grinned, already making his way towards the exit, praying he wasn’t late. His mom was going to go apeshit, but it was worth it._

_“Hey, Eds!” Richie called, his friend turning back around as he held the door open. “Say hi to your mom for me!”_

_Eddie just rolled his eyes, showing him the middle finger, before disappearing out of sight. Richie laughed to himself, feeling the warm metal against his palm. He gazed down at the token, rolling it around between his fingers, smiling at the memory of he and Eddie hanging out at the arcade weeks ago, just the two of them._

_“Hey, faggot!”_

_Richie almost dropped the token, spinning around so fast he just about caught himself from falling. A chill ran through him as he came face to face with none other than Henry Bowers, of course he was accompanied by his minions, dressed like they were about to go to a beer festival down in the swamps._

_“Your little crush not staying to keep you warm?” Bowers taunted, his friends laughing behind him. “What’s the matter, lost your voice from sucking too much dick?”_

_Richie gulped, feeling more scared than he had around Bowers than ever before. Why was he saying those things? Did he know? Did that mean Eddie knew?_

_“You shouldn’t be here, Tozier.” Bowers scowled, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to look intimidating in front of all the other kids at the arcade. All who had their eyes on the scene instead of on the games. “Bet your friend hates you as much as the rest of us! What do you think he’d do if he found out you wanted to bone him, huh?”_

_Richie couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move. He was so scared, but not because of Bowers being so close and threatening, but because of Eddie. It was no secret to the Losers that Richie liked Eddie a bit more than a friend, he’d had a crush since he was little, but he’d always kept it hidden from the boy himself, because Richie was just too scared that he’d lose him. What if Eddie found out, and never wanted to speak to him again? What if Eddie suddenly felt too uncomfortable around him, knowing Richie fancied him?_

_The Losers had told him Eddie would never think that, because none of them saw him any differently. They thought Richie was just being too cautious, letting what Bowers and his gang said get to his head. Maybe that was it, but he was still too cowardly and beyond frightened. He couldn’t lose Eddie, he wouldn’t, he’d rather have him as a friend than not at all._

_“You listening to me, Tozier?”_

_Richie flinched at the bully’s brash voice, feeling his heart beating rapidly against his chest. His eyes stung, and his lips quivered, he tried desperately not to break._

_“Get the fuck out, you queer! Move!”_

_Richie recoiled, gasping under his breath as Bowers took a step towards him, shouting in his face. He swiftly got out of there, sprinting for the door, clutching Eddie’s token in his hand tightly._

Richie looked down at the token in his hand, and smiled sadly, the memory of that day hitting him like a ton of bricks. He sighed, looking up and over to the front doors, where he remembers running, running so fast down the street and away from the arcade his chest hurt. The comedian followed the same path he’d taken as a kid, leaving the arcade and making his way up the street towards the park, where a stage was currently set up and people in silly outfits were rehearsing, whilst a bunch of cheerleaders and mascots danced around like they’d had too much coffee that morning.

Richie blocked out the irritating singing coming from the performers, focusing on every bit of memory he had of that day he’d escaped here, gaze landing on a bench that was yards away from where he stood. He could see himself, just as he’d been, sitting there on the bench with his face in his hands, crying.

_He cried and cried, not being able to hold it in. He hated this. Why did he have to be such a chicken? What was he so afraid of? It all came down to Eddie, it always did._ He’ll hate me. He’ll hate me. He’ll hate me. _Richie ripped his glasses off his face in agitation, rubbing at his eyes with his fingers, trying so hard to stop the tears. He let out a quiet sob, wishing all this hurt would go away._

_“Want a kiss, Richie?”_

_The boy jumped at the sound of the strange voice, snatching his glasses up to put back on so he could see. As his vision became clear again, Richie instantly noticed something that wasn’t quite right, and that something happened to be the giant Paul Bunyan statue… that wasn’t there anymore. Richie felt his breathing quicken and heart beat incredibly fast against his rib cage. Then, a loud thud came from his right, and Richie flinched back before whirling his head around to take a look._

_He wished he hadn’t, as the Paul Bunyan statue that had taken a walk, had decided to pay him a little visit. The sculpture had come to life and bent down low, just meters from Richie, before it opened it’s black, rotting mouth and let out a blood curdling growl, bats flying noisily out of it and flapping away. Richie screamed in absolute fright, eyes wide and unblinking, as the moving statue suddenly raised its arms along with the humongous Cant Hook, and with one big swoop it swung the Hook down towards Richie._

_Richie dived off the bench, rolling onto the floor and hurriedly pushed himself up. The Cant Hook smashed into the bench, sending bits of stone flying in every direction, as Richie began sprinting away from the creature, too scared to look back. His legs carried him as fast as they could across the grass, as deafening bangs and blows came from the hook crashing into the ground with so much force it shook, and mud and grass was flung into the air._

_Then, the statue gave one immense blow to the ground with its hook, the force flinging Richie off his feet and he went tumbling to the floor. He yelped as he hit the grass, glasses soaring off, getting onto his back to watch as the blurry figure of the monster stood over him, raising its farm tool for the last time. Richie curled in on himself, shaking in terror, as he shut his eyes and prayed to whoever the fuck was listening to help him._

_But then he remembered, none of this was real, it was only a stupid clown messing with him. “It’s not real!” Richie said out loud, hoping this would work. “It’s not real, it’s not real!”_

_Richie repeated his words, just as the creature gave off a bone-chilling roar. And then, there was silence._ Please, please, please. _Richie said in his head, as he felt around for his glasses and clumsily stuck them back on. Getting back onto his back, he looked up and nothing was there, then he moved his head around to check out the park, just as empty and quiet as it was when he got there. And the statue, it was back in its place._

_Richie let out a breath he’d been holding in anticipation, “I think I just shit myself.” He said to no one, and fell back onto the grass. He didn’t move from that spot for a while._

Richie stared at the spot where he’d lay panting and sweating from the fear when he’d come face to face with a real-life nightmare, remembering just how it had felt when being chased by the monster, like it had happened just yesterday. It was kind of crazy how he’d been so scared to tell Eddie of his feelings back then, how afraid he’d been for people in the town to know about him, then weeks later he’d found out there was nothing to be anxious about, when Eddie had told him he loved him too. He slowly turned to look up at the gigantic statue of Paul Bunyan, standing in the same place, looking just as creepy as it had when he was a kid. He hated the damn thing.

“Special event!”

Richie almost jumped out of his skin when a stranger walked past, shoving a piece of paper into his hand so fast he almost fell back. “Shit!” he cursed, watching the guy saunter off like he didn’t just almost bowl him over.

But, as he turned around to look at Richie and put on the eeriest smile he’d ever seen, the comedian tensed and couldn’t help but think shit was about to go down. Not to mention the guy’s face had a massive gash down the side, and his eyes looked a little weird. Yeah, there was no doubt in Richie’s mind that he was about to get screwed. And not in a good way.

As he held the piece of paper up in his hand, dreading the action, Richie could confirm his suspicions, and his blood ran cold at what he saw. Printed on the front of the page was a picture of Eddie, a portrait of just his face, smiling sweetly. But that’s not what made Richie want to hurl, it was the fact that underneath the picture were the words: _Eddie Kaspbrak, 1976-2016, died because Richie Tozier couldn’t save him._

Richie’s hands began to shake as he re-read those words over and over. He felt like he was about to throw up just from seeing it, knowing it was fake, but still having that tiny bit of dread. It was pulling at his heartstrings, fucking him up emotionally, Pennywise knew just how to get to him, what his worst fear in the world was and always had been: Losing Eddie.

“You miss me, Richie?”

Richie jolted in surprise, so caught up in the paper in his hands that he hadn’t realised who was standing just yards in front of him. He’d thought it was just Pennywise, but he wasn’t alone, and Richie felt his stomach drop as his gaze landed on the person. Eddie was there. Pennywise held a bunch of balloons in the shape of a pyramid in one hand, whilst his other arm wrapped around Eddie’s neck and held him in place. But, Eddie, it couldn’t have been him, the real him.

He was covered in dirt and grime from head to toe, and he was drenched through, clothes hanging off him from the weight. It wasn’t just that, but he was hurt, badly. There was a massive wound in the middle of his chest, stretching right down to his abdomen, gushing blood, that stained his ripped shirt and jacket. His face was scratched up, and bruised, as blood ran from between his lips, and dripped from his fingertips. The only thing normal about him were his eyes, his big, brown eyes gazing sadly at Richie, silently pleading for help. Richie let out a quiet sob.

“I’ve missed _you_!” Pennywise carried on, grinning widely, his yellow, bloodied teeth sharp and threatening. “It’s been so boring without you, and without Eddie.” he chortled unnervingly, his grip tightening around Eddie’s neck. The hypochondriac didn’t move a muscle, like he was frozen in place, just a dummy for the monster to control. “He’s so much fun to _play_ with!”

With that, Pennywise let go of the balloons, and they stayed there, floating in place. “Do you want to play a game, Richie?” the clown asked, voice rising in excitement.

“Shit!” Richie whispered, eyes not leaving Eddie as Pennywise pulled Eddie to his side, both hands now encircling his neck. “Jesus, no!”

“How about truth or dare?” Pennywise smiled from ear to ear, enjoying every moment of taunting the comedian. “Do you want to do a _dare_ , Richie?”

Richie shook his head on instinct, feeling his entire body trembling by this point.

“I dare you to _save_ him!” Pennywise cackled.

The next thing Pennywise did caught him off guard, the clown kept Eddie in place by the neck, his other one reaching out to Richie as long, spiky talons started to grow out of the fingertips, and in one swift move he stabbed those claws into Eddie’s neck.

“No!” Richie let out in a cry, almost falling back in shock, his body going numb at the sight he was seeing. “No, no, please!” Richie began to sob, as blood began to pour from Eddie’s neck, where Pennywise’s hooks still embedded him. Eddie’s eyes still stared right at him. “Please!”

“Oh,” Pennywise taunted, digging his claws in deeper, the fake Eddie’s mouth overflowing with blood. “He’s going to die if you don’t save him, Richie! You’re going to lose him, _forever_!”

“No!” Richie let out in a gasp, turning away from the sight, not being able to look at Eddie any longer. He couldn’t. It was too painful, and Pennywise’s words were like a slap to the face. It felt so real, too real, but “This isn’t real!” Richie said out loud just like he’d done as a kid. It worked then; it could work now. “This isn’t happening, it’s not real! It’s not real!”

Richie took a big, deep breath, and he opened his eyes. Eddie was gone… but he just about fainted when Pennywise started to run at him, mouth agape showing all his menacing teeth, as he howled at him. Every red balloon that was floating began to pop, deafening in the soundless park. Richie screamed at the top of his voice, and made a run for it. He didn’t look back, not even once, as he sprinted through the park and towards the other side of the street, with only one thing on his mind. He had to get to Eddie!

+++++

Minutes earlier, Eddie wasn’t having much fun with his time either. After leaving Richie and making his way through the park, he’d walked the street, people in colourful costumes and hands full of candy floss surrounding him, a kid with a bunch of balloons hadn’t even moved them out of the way before Eddie had smacked right into them. So it wasn’t a good start, not by far, and when he’d come to the end of the street and saw the Pharmacy, well it just got a whole lot worse from there.

For one, as he went through the familiar doors of the store, and strolled down the centre of the shop slowly, he had a wave of nostalgia, and not a good kind. The place was exactly as it had been in the eighties, like he’d used a time machine to go back. Even posters dating back to the time were still hanging on the walls. Not to mention the vintage wallpaper and shelving it still had, and he wasn’t even going to mention the spiderwebs gathering in every corner. Yeah, absolutely nothing had changed in this building. 

So Eddie shouldn’t have been surprised when he got to the counter, and called out for someone, only to find the same creepy, pervy man that owned the joint when he was a kid, Mr. Keene. Except this time he was an old man, and had grew to be even spookier if it were possible. As he noticed Eddie standing there, he stared, literally full on stared for what felt like way too long, before shuffling to the front of the desk.

“Can I help you?” He asked, sounding haggard.

“Yeah,” Eddie answered, trying not to cringe at the sores dotting the man’s lips. “I called earlier, I had a prescription filled in for Kaspbrak.”

“Kaspbrak?” Keene droned, looking at Eddie like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. 

“Yeah, uh, it’s an inhaler.”

Keene nodded, reaching for a paper bag stored in the box behind the desk, “Eddie Kaspbrak.”

“Yeah,” Eddie confirmed, just as a lightbulb went off in the old man’s head. “That’s me.”

Keene mumbled, “I remember you, how’s your mom?”

“Uh,” Eddie shrugged, noticing a very familiar woman come out from the back room, before he answered Keenes question. “She's been better I guess-,”

“What on earth is _that?_ ” Keene suddenly interrupted. He pointed up at Eddie’s face, and had him paranoid within seconds. “What _is_ that?”

Eddie was caught off guard when Keene began picking and prodding at his left cheek, then pulling at his skin and almost smacking him in the face. The hypochondriac was not amused, and wished this dude would get his gross, withering fingers off of his face. But he also had to admit, he wanted to know why Keene was looking so concerned.

“It’s uh, okay,” Eddie flinched, as Keene’s tongue slithered around in his open mouth like a god damn worm. “It’s not going anywhere, it’s a mole.”

“Huh,” Keene frowned, figuring it out. “It might not be cancer though...”

Eddie’s eyes widened. He couldn’t be serious, right? “Did you say cancer?”

“It might be.” Keene mumbled, like it was no big deal. He patted Eddie on the cheek, who was now paranoid _and_ worried about the damn spot on his face. “You stay right where you are, I’ll get you something for that.”

Eddie gulped; Keene had never been wrong about this stuff before, right? So maybe a little something wouldn’t harm. “Okay.”

But, as Keene disappeared into the back room, Eddie heard something, like a whisper. He turned his gaze to the door that led to the basement, just beside the front desk, and his eyes widened as he came to a realisation, he’d been down there before.

_Eddie hated Greta Bowie, he really did. He’d just come to the Pharmacy to pick up some medication, and here she is telling him his dick needs drugs because it had a tumour, and he needed pills because his breath stinks. He just wanted to come here, pick up his meds, and be off back home, but life wasn’t that simple apparently. If only Richie was there to come up with a better comeback to throw at her, Eddie didn’t even have the guts to try, knowing he’d probably freeze halfway through._

_He even thanked her for the inhaler when she’d rolled her eyes at him and stormed to the back of the shop, and he was left feeling like an absolute moron as he went to leave. He was ready to get the hell out of there as soon as he could, until something held him back, a voice, a voice he knew all too well._

_“Eddie?”_

_The boy froze, listening out for the voice in the noiseless shop, but nothing came. Maybe he was being paranoid… he was about to take another step, until:_

_“EDDIE-BEAR!”_

_Eddie spun around to where the voice was coming from, which turned out to be the basement, the dark, smelly basement that the Losers had always made up silly stories about. They said that monsters lived down there, ugly trolls and goblins, and Richie once said Greta fed her soul to them and that’s why she was such a bitch. Eddie hated the stupid basement, but he could have sworn that was his mom shouting up from down there. So, he looked around the Pharmacy, wondering why it was so empty and quiet, before taking cautious steps to the door._

_As his mother called out to him again, Eddie quickly went inside the door, not noticing the shopping baskets piled by the entrance. “Ah!” He yelled in surprise, his heartbeat racing, as he knocked right into them._

_He hated this. Man, he hated this. He didn’t want to go down there, he really didn’t. “Mommy?” He called down the stairs, slowly getting closer._

_It got even worse when he started descending the steps. The first thing he noticed was the smell, the stench of rotting corpses and chemicals, and then he saw things, jars lining the walls full of dead animals floating in God knew what. Eddie gagged, hurriedly ripping open his paper bag and yanking out the inhaler, putting the piece of plastic straight to his lips and breathing it in. Stuffing that back into his pocket, he almost went flying down the rest of the staircase, passing the weird jars of dead stuff._

_And as he rounded the corner, he wanted to throw up. “Mommy?” He called again, the sight in front of him the scariest sight he’d ever seen._

_The room was covered in shelves on both sides, from top to bottom, hospital equipment stacked on every shelf, rotting and rusting, and stained with what could only be blood. As he began to walk slowly to the long, mouldy curtains at the other end of the room, he saw the heaps of needles around the place, all dirty and old, full of glassy liquids. IV stands were strewn about the place, bags full of blood hanging from their hooks. There could be all sorts of germs on those utensils, the blood was surely full of disease, and infectious if touched. It was Eddie’s worst nightmare._

_He gave himself a fright when he suddenly heard glass shatter under his foot, he looked down to see millions of tiny pieces of glass decorating the floor, along with broken needles and pools of blood. Eddie yelped, falling back and hitting an IV pole, sending it hurling towards the shelf. It hit the shelf hard, sending everything soaring, including a dozen blood filled IV bags, whose target was Eddie’s face._

_“AH!” Eddie screeched, flinging his arms up to protect himself._

_The next thing he knew he was being whacked by the repulsive items so hard, he fell to the ground, right onto the blood stained, glass pile. Eddie felt his palms sting as his hands hit the floor first, and he cried out as he pushed himself back up to his feet as fast as he could. In his haste he failed to notice the IV bags still hanging from the ceiling, and went barrelling right into them, he screamed at the top of his voice, his fear skyrocketing as he was tangled up in the bloody, infectious stuff. Eddie twisted around frantically, knocking the IV bags away from him, until he was free._

_He breathed heavily as he escaped from the clutches of the bloody bags, feeling his chest burn, and stomach turn, god he wanted to go home. He did_ not _want to be here. He wished he wasn’t alone, he wished Richie was here to tell a stupid joke, and make him feel less frightened._

_“Eddie-bear?”_

_His head spun around in the direction of his mother’s voice; eyes boring into the ugly curtains just meters away now. This time he could see a silhouette behind it much clearer, the outline of his mother laying down on some kind of inclined table. This couldn’t be happening, why was his mother down in this dank, germ infested basement?_

_“What’s going on?” Eddie stuttered, taking slow steps towards the curtains. “What are you doing here?”_

_“Where are you, Eddie? What’s taking you so long?” his mom sounded angry, strained. “Help me!”_

_Eddie felt his heart beat faster, breathing uncontrollably, chest growing unbearably tight as his fright took a hold. He raised his hands to the curtains, clutching in the dirty material, and with one quick swoop Eddie opened the two to reveal what was lurking behind the drapery. His eyes widened as he came upon his mother, tied down to a surgical table, sweat dropping down her face like she were close to a fire. She was in another room filled in almost darkness, more surgical equipment and tools stacked on shelves and tables._

_“Mommy!”_

_Eddie belted towards his mom, hands instantly reaching for the top buckle wrapped around her chest, holding her down tight._

_“He’s coming!” she cried, fidgeting like mad. “Get me out of this place!”_

_“Who?” Eddie almost shouted instead, cringing as his hands came away from the clasps all sticky and slimy._

_His mother let out a loud cry, just as a barely audible growl sounded from the other end of the long, dimly lit room. The two went silent in fright, Eddie’s fast breathing deafening in the quiet basement._

_“What the fuck is that thing?” Eddie whispered, as their eyes landed on a shape of a person covered in a blanket standing opposite them, a long, heavy chain tied around its neck that was attached to a pipe in the ceiling. The pipe leading right down to them._

_Out of the blue, it moved. Shaking like it had been shocked into wakefulness, the creature let out another snarl, louder than before. Eddie screamed on instinct, feeling his hands begin to quiver, and legs turn to jelly._

_“Mommy!” Eddie called out to his mother, not knowing what to do, too scared to even move._

_“Get me out of here, Eddie! Get me out!”_

_Eddie began freaking the hell out then, as his mother started yelling at him on one side, and whatever was under the blanket started wobbling towards them, shaking and growling like a deranged animal. The hypochondriac felt around for the buckle, trying his best to undo it as his eyes stayed on the creature, that was until it got stuck on the pipe, the chain stopping at an obstacle._

_“He’s going to kill me, Eddie! Help me! Get me out!”_

_His mother definitely wasn’t helping with her shouting, making him panic even more. He quickly tore his gaze away from the monster to see what he was doing with the strap, stumbling a tad as his hands shook. He had even more determination as the monster’s chain got loose from the obstacle on the drain pipe, heading straight for them. He almost cheered when the buckle came close, flinging the strap off his mother’s chest._

_But the thing was getting closer, must closer, so close Eddie could smell the disgusting stench and hear the horrible gurgling sounds it made. Eddie began to scream in absolute terror, hands clinging to his mom, as she cried and yelled and kicked about in her confinements. And it got worse, as the monster got stuck again, it yanked itself forward to get unstuck, sending the blanket tumbling to the floor, revealing none other than the leper that had been haunting Eddie’s dreams. Of course it was the damn leper!_

_He couldn’t stop screaming as it got nearer, stretching its arms out towards them, spit and drool falling from its horrifying mouth as it let out unnerving sounds. It got within inches of touching his mom, grounded by the chain, but Eddie knew it wouldn’t hold, why would it? It looked rustier than an old spanner. He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t let it go near him, he was too scared, he was always too scared. He wasn’t brave like Richie said, he didn’t want to be brave, he wanted to go home. He just wanted to go home._

_“I can’t!” He cried out, his mother shouting at him to help her, but he just couldn’t. “I can’t do this! I’m sorry!”_

_If that thing so much as touched him he’d be infected, he’d be infected and get sick and who knows what would happen then. So he stepped away, more like ran away, bolting to the curtains as he watched the leper fling forward as the chain snapped, his mother screaming as it grabbed her and began to lick all over her face with its smarmy, decomposing tongue._

_Eddie kept on screaming until his throat began to hurt, not knowing what else to do. He couldn’t look at what was happening before him, he couldn’t stand the stink and the darkness, he couldn’t be brave and face his fear. He hated himself for it, but all he could do was run. So he did. Eddie spun around and ran as fast as he could, all the way home._

Eddie remembered the dark, gloomy basement like he was there yesterday. It was still as creepy and unsettling, except, as he went down there this time around there were no needles, hospital equipment or blood splattered on the floor. There was no sound of his mother either, thankfully. But it still didn’t make him feel any less nervous, and like he was about to puke from the fear rising in his gut. Although, the one thing that was still there, were the old, yellowy curtains at the end of the room.

“Why the fuck is this still disturbing?” Eddie whispered to himself, clenching his fingers into a fist, trying to calm himself down. “Shit. Why’s the curtain still there?” 

He sighed, shaking his head and preparing himself for the worst. He knew he had to do it, he had to visit the past, right? “Okay, alright, you can do this, Eddie.” He spoke to himself to try and block out the nerves rising in him, sticking one hand into his pocket and wrapping his fingers around Richie’s shirt. “You can do this, it’s just a memory. You’ll be fine.”

He strolled on over to the ugly curtains, each step he took his heartrate increased, almost drumming against his rib cage as he stopped just before the hanging fabric. Man, this felt way too familiar, and not in a good way. “Okay, deep breath. You can do this!”

Eddie took a deep breath, giving Richie’s shirt one last squeeze before moving his hands to grip the ends of the curtains. He squeezed his eyes shut, counted to three in his head, and with one swift tug he opened them as far as he could. Nothing. There was nothing. Only shelves stacked from top to bottom with pharmacy stuff, and no signs of anything unusual. It was just a standard, non-supernatural cellar in a drugstore.

Eddie let out a sigh of relief, thanking whoever was listening for not messing with him this time around. But, of course, fate, and that fucking clown, wasn’t letting him off that easy. Just as he was turning around to escape that rotten place, he was met with none other than his old friend, the leper. It came out of nowhere, growling and spitting in his face, Eddie yelping in shock as its long, bony fingers made a grab for him.

Eddie tried so hard to keep it away, but without success. Next thing he knew he was being shoved into a shelf, back hitting it with a loud thwack. Eddie groaned at the sudden pain, feeling the slimy, dirty hands of the leper run down his face and clutch his neck firmly. Eddie put up his hands on instinct, cringing at the feel of puss and blood and whatever the hell else was on the creature, as he pushed at its face to try and get it off him. He almost did throw up when his hand slipped, and his thumb jabbed at the leper’s eyes, squashing it and sending gross, yellow fluid in the air.

The leper was nowhere near giving up, and Eddie could feel its strength as its hand dig into his skin, pushing him harder against the shelf. There was no way Eddie was dying down here, no way in hell. He wasn’t going to let a disgusting, diseased monster kill him down in Keene’s freaking basement. Richie would be furious for one. So, Eddie plucked up all the courage he could, and directed his hands to the leper’s neck.

He squeezed hard around the things stretchy, scabby skin of his throat, digging his thumbs into the weak spots, pushing down on the windpipe. That’s when Eddie started to notice something, the leper was starting to choke, he was _actually_ choking. Eddie’s eyes widened in surprise; he couldn’t believe his luck. Pennywise had a weakness, he could be hurt after all. 

“Ha!” Eddie almost grinned as he squeezed and squeezed as hard as he could, the leper letting out these gurgling sounds, hands flailing and trying to push Eddie off. The bastard was dying!

Eddie, with all his strength, drove the monster back, getting his own back by sending it flying into the shelf on the other side of the room. Eddie gritted his teeth and put all his strength into his hands, as he pushed them down further, crushing the life out of It.

“Fuck you!” He yelled, seeing the thing struggle against him, its movement growing weak and almost still.

He was winning. He was actually winning. Just a bit more squeezing and then... The leper was vomiting on him. Eddie screamed in shock as the black, oily vomit came pouring out of the creature’s mouth like a hosepipe and right into his face. Exactly how it happened when he was a kid. 

“What the _fuck?”_ Eddie screeched, rubbing the stuff from his eyes and mouth. He stared at the spot where the leper was seconds ago, now, just an empty space. “Shit!”

He had been so close, so close, and he’d actually fought back this time. The risk evaluator had finally plucked up the courage to fight back, but he hadn’t won in the end. Typical. Staring at the spot where the leper once was, Eddie suddenly felt a tad scared again, so he did what he did when he was there last time. He got the hell out of there. 

Richie remembered where the pharmacy was, he could remember it like the back of his hand, because he’d always go there with Eddie when he needed to, always finding some way to get on Mr Keenes nerves. So, he didn’t find it hard to get there, especially when he was in such a hurry and pumped with adrenaline from the ordeal he’d just experienced. He wanted to get far away from the damn place, as far away as possible, but first, he had to find Eddie. And find Eddie he did.

Except, Richie almost lost it when he saw Eddie walking hurriedly towards him with his head down, looking quite different to what he’d looked like not less than half hour ago. He was coated in black liquid, like wet tar, his top half coated in the stuff like he’d taken a dip in a pool of it. Richie had seen it happen before, when they were younger, it was the exact same goop, which could only mean Eddie had come across his favourite leper.

“Fuck.” Richie let out, as his mind went back to what Pennywise had shown him. Eddie, coated in blood, wounded, dying. “Eddie!”

Eddie instantly looked up, expression changing to that of relief. “Richie!”

The two came crashing together, Richie not giving a flying fuck that Eddie was wearing some lepers vomit like a second skin, too damn relieved that he was okay, he was still alive. He wrapped Eddie up in his arms, squeezing his eyes shut and taking it all in. 

“Fuck,” Richie mumbled, holding him so tight Eddie couldn’t probably breathe. He quickly let go, looking the smaller man over, noticing he wasn’t injured or hurt, thank fuck. “You okay? What happened? Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Eddie answered, frowning as he saw the obvious panic in Richie’s face, and apparent fear in his eyes. “It was the leper it uh, it attacked me but I’m good.” He said hurriedly, seeing Richie’s eyes scan his body. 

“We gotta go!” Richie suddenly said, and before Eddie knew it he’d grabbed his hand and was pulling him down the street. “We’ve got to get the fuck out of here, _right_ now!”

“Okay, wait, what?” Eddie had no clue what was happening, but whatever it was Richie was freaking the hell out. “Wait, Richie, slow the fuck down!” 

Eddie tugged on Richie’s hand as he came to a stop, making the other man halt in place too. The comedian huffed in annoyance, not wanting to spend another god damn second in this town, and get Eddie to safety. He was not going to risk it after what he’d just witnessed.

“Eds, come on!” Richie growled, as Eddie snatched his hand back and stood firm, crossing his arms over his chest, he meant business. “Are you _kidding_ me?”

“Tell me.” Was all the younger man said, making Richie throw his hands up in frustration. “Richie, tell me what the fuck happened over there, because you’re freaking out worse than that time I fell through the ceiling at Neibolt and almost got eaten by the damn clown.”

Richie froze at those words, eyes widening in terror, the image of Eddie drenched in blood, skin damaged with cuts and bruises, his chest wide open and oozing. It didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie, who had never seen Richie look so afraid, especially not by Pennywise, so he took a better approach. 

“Rich?” Eddie barely whispered his name, approaching him cautiously, gently taking the other man’s hand in his. “Hey, please tell me what happened, Richie. You’re scaring me.”

Richie relaxed at the soft touch of Eddie’s hand in his, seeing the desperation in him, wanting to help. He didn’t want to tell him, he really didn’t, but he also couldn’t keep it from him either, or it would eat at Richie and maybe if Eddie did know he’d be more careful. 

“It was you.” He said, almost losing his voice. “When that fucking _clown_ came to me, he... He used _you_ to get to me.” Richie snorted, thinking how damn genius Pennywise was after all. “and it worked! The fucker is probably bloated from all my fear!”

Eddie’s brows furrowed in confusion, “What do you mean? He used me? I don’t understand.” 

“Eddie,” Richie sighed, feeling a headache coming on. “He taunted me, and the whole time you were there, you...” He choked, blood blurring his mind. 

“I was at the pharmacy, Rich.” Eddie confirmed, “I don’t get it. Why’d he use me?”

Richie wanted to laugh, how innocent that question was, Eddie really didn’t get how important he was to him. “Eddie, I know it wasn’t the _real_ you, but whatever it was _looked_ like you and... And you were... fuck, you were bleeding, and dying right in front of me!”

Eddie’s eyes widened in surprise, “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Richie snorted, running his free hand through his hair. “He stabbed you, Eddie. He fucking ran his weird ass pointy fingers right into your neck and there was nothing I could fucking do! I couldn’t save you! My worst fear is losing you Eddie and he fucking _knew_ it and _fuck!”_

At that instant Richie felt like crying and not giving a damn who saw, because even talking about it made his insides curl. Eddie seemed to notice, and after the initial shock of finding out Richie’s fear, quickly brought him back down to earth.

“Hey!” He said, holding Richie still, grabbing his face with both hands and turning his gaze on him “it wasn’t me, Rich. You hear me? He was messing with you! It wasn’t real.”

Richie nodded, remembering those exact words he’d repeated over and over in his head as he tried to block it all out. “I know, Eds, it just _felt_ so real, man. I need to keep you safe!”

“You are, dumbass.” Eddie smiled, seeing the sides of Richie’s mouth upturn a little. “You’ve been keeping me safe the moment we got here, you’ve been by my side the whole time, and never once let anything bad happen to me. You’re not going to lose me, okay?”

Richie nodded slower this time, wanting so bad to believe his words. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?” 

“Rich,” Eddie rolled his eyes, and saying in all seriousness. “You’re the one that does the stupid shit.”

“Fair point.”

Eddie grinned, getting up on his tip toes and kissing Richie hard on the lips. Richie gave back as good as he got, holding Eddie as close as possible, drowning out the sounds of music and cheering from the park, ignoring the fact he now had a lot more of that black goo on him. Eddie was right, he’d kept him safe this whole time, and he’d continue to do so, he wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. Pennywise wasn’t going to take him, not this time.

“Hey,” Eddie started, as they pulled back, a question nagging at him. “You still fear losing me?” remembering when they were kids, and Richie had admitted that fear, as they sat in Eddie’s bedroom.

_It had been exactly a week since Pennywise had been defeated. And exactly a week since Eddie and Richie had admitted their crushes on one another, and Richie had felt relief, happiness, and couldn’t believe what an idiot he’d been thinking Eddie would leave him. He still couldn’t believe the younger boy liked him back though._

_He wanted to keep his past fear to himself, never letting Eddie know about it, or how Pennywise had tortured him about his feelings and terror of never seeing the boy again. But, as luck would have it, that night as the new couple sat on Eddie’s bed and looked through old comics, Eddie came out with a question Richie didn’t want to hear._

_“What was your worst fear, Rich?”_

_Richie had almost chocked on the coke he’d just swallowed, “What?”_

_Eddie shrugged, flipping through a Captain America strip. “Was just thinking, I’ve told you guys mine was disease and stuff, and they’ve told us theirs, but you wouldn’t tell us yours.” He said, looking up at the older boy. “Was it clowns? You’ve always hated clowns.”_

_Richie kind of panicked, nodding his head quickly. “Yeah… totally. It was clowns. Yeah.” He was such a terrible liar at that moment._

_“You’re shitting me!” Eddie snorted, pushing the comic book to the side, and moving around on the bed to face Richie. “Oi!” Eddie whacked Richie on the arm, who drew his arm back, whining. “Don’t ignore me, what’s your fear?”_

_Richie shrugged, trying very hard to ignore Eddie, but the other boy wasn’t having none of it. He pocked, and prodded, and flicked at Richie’s arm and leg, until finally Richie cracked and threw his book down._

_“Okay!” Richie huffed, not being able to look at Eddie face to face, keeping his gaze on his lap as he admitted, “It was you.”_

_Eddie looked like he’d been hit in the face. “Me?”_

_Richie nodded, biting his lower lip, trying to figure out the right words to use. “Not like… I mean… not_ you… _it… mybiggestfearislosingyou.” He said so quick it sounded like gibberish._

_“Come again?” Eddie quirked an eyebrow, about as confused as a cat that barks._

_Richie groaned, giving up and just telling him. “My fear is losing you, okay? The stupid, fucking clown used you against me, he kept telling me that you’d leave me and never be my friend again and hate me, and-”_

_“Hold up a minute!” Eddie cut him off, suddenly getting on his knees and flinging his arms in the air as he said, “Your fear is_ losing me _?”_

_“Yes, Eddie!”_

_“Why the fuck would you be afraid of losing me?”_

_Richie thought for a second, should he tell him? And then Eddie was looking so mad at him he decided it was best if he did. “I was scared to tell you I liked you, alright? I thought you’d hate me and not want to be my friend, and I’d lose you for good!”_

_Eddie was silent for about a second and a half, before he exploded. “Why in the actual hell would you think that? Are you_ kidding _me? You’d think I’d never speak to you again because you like me more than a friend? Is that what you think of_ me _?”_

_“NO!” Richie quickly answered, damn, he knew that sounded wrong. “Eddie, that’s not what I mean!”_

_“Sounds like it to me, asshole!” Eddie huffed, rushing off the bed and heading for the door._

_“Eddie!” Richie practically dove after him, slamming himself against the door to stop his best friend from leaving. “Eddie, please just listen!”_

_Eddie looked so annoyed his face was as red as a tomato, arms crossed over his chest and foot stomping on the ground. But he nodded, letting Richie explain himself._

_Richie let out a silent sigh in relief, and tried to explain as best he could, “Listen, I was just scared okay, I’ve had a crush on you for years and I didn’t know how to tell you, didn’t want to tell you, because people have always put it in my head that fancying another boy was_ wrong, _Bowers has always tormented me about it, and then Pennywise knew and made it worse, and I don’t know, you’d never said anything against boys liking boys, but I just didn’t want to risk losing you.”_

_Eddie sighed, seeing Richie’s eyes tear up as he spoke. “Rich, you know me better than anyone, you should have known I wouldn’t have given a shit if you like boys!”_

_“I know,” Richie mumbled, thinking back to how stupid it really was. Eddie was right, so were the Losers. “I was just scared, Eddie. Fear does stupid things to people. I’m sorry.”_

_Richie couldn’t even look him in the eye._

_“It’s a good thing I like boys too then.” Eddie said, making Richie look up with a smile. “I’ve always been afraid of telling people that too you know, I just never thought about it as much. And always pictured you liking girls.” He shrugged._

_“Girls have cooties.” Richie smirked._

_Eddie rolled his eyes, “Just so you know, if I didn’t like boys, you in particular, I would still have been your best friend.”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Yeah,” Eddie nodded, finally relaxing. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy, Tozier.”_

_With that said, Eddie took the few small steps towards Richie, and stretched up to peck him softly on the lips. Richie stood there for a while wondering why he’d been so scared in the first place, that was way easier than he’d thought it would be._

Richie hummed. “Yeah, I guess that fear’s resurfaced since we got our memories back.”

“Well,” Eddie said, “Like I said as a kid, you ain’t getting rid of me that easy, Tozier.”

Richie grinned down at him, not minding that at all. “Well, losing you would be the worst thing ever.”

Eddie kissed him on the lips again, reassuring him that he wasn’t going anywhere. He embraced the much taller man, and mumbled against his chest, “I’m pretty sure being vomited on by a leper is worse.”

Richie laughed loudly, completely agreeing. “Dude, you do stink like a dead rat.”

“Rude.” Eddie deadpanned, standing up straight and pointing at Richie’s shirt. “You hugged me so good luck getting that off your shirt.”

Richie grinned to himself as Eddie turned around and started walking down the street. “Worth it!” He shouted at him.

“Come on, dipshit!” Eddie called back. “I need a fucking shower!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one seems a little rushed, as it was. I hope you enjoyed it none the less.


	6. The Bully

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: More homophobic language because of Henry "the fuckface" Bowers! Again I'm sorry!

When Richie and Eddie arrived back at the townhouse, they weren’t surprised in the least to see Bev and Ben already there, Bev helping herself to the vodkas at the bar, as Ben came down the creaky steps. They both noticed Eddie blanketed in black goo as he strolled in like he were on a mission, heading straight for his room, because he could have sworn he felt the stuff up his nose and in his ears, and boy did he desperately need that shower.

“Jesus,” Ben gasped, as Eddie passed him on the steps without a word. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Eddie murmured, not stopping. “Just peachy.”

Bev joined Ben in the parlour as Richie walked in seconds behind his boyfriend, looking worse for wear. He had black stains along his shirt, which gave away that he and Eddie had been together.

“Everything okay?” Bev asked this time, as Richie waved her off. 

“Don’t ask.” He said, heading for upstairs too. “Were heading the fuck out of here!”

“Wait, what?” Ben started, him and Bev looking worried. “Richie, you can’t leave!”

“Yeah, I can.” Richie said, continuing to climb the stairs and heading for his room. “I’m taking Eddie, and were leaving, we’ve already almost fucking died today!”

Ben and Bev shared a look, feeling useless just standing there, not knowing how they could convince the couple to stay in Derry. So, Ben followed Richie, as he stopped off by Eddie’s room, glancing inside. “You okay, Eddie?” He shouted to the younger man, who answered from the bathroom. “Okay, take your stuff once you’re done, and we'll go.”

“Richie!” Ben sighed, as Richie ignored him and carried on down the hall to his room, starting to pack as Ben begged him to stay the entire time.

Meanwhile in Eddie’s room, he literally stripped and tossed his disgusting clothes to the floor like they were on fire, and practically dove into the shower, desperate to get rid of the smell and the feel of the oily substance on his skin. It was a speedy one, but he made sure to scrub the leper vomit from every crook and cranny, until he only stunk of blueberry shower gel. He felt much better when he stepped out, drying himself off hurriedly and putting on some fresh, clean clothes. It was nice to not feel the wet, runny puke of a monster on him.

Eddie looked at his watch as he put it on, realising that was probably the hastiest shower he had ever taken, as it had only been ten minutes since he’d got in. Which was fine by him, the sooner he got out of there and on the road to New York with Richie the better. Most of his stuff was still in his suitcases anyway, that wouldn’t be a problem, so he just needed to swill out his mouth, he was pretty sure leper vomit had gotten past his lips, and he and Richie would be on their way.

Talking of Richie, the sound of his voice could be heard from downstairs, virtually shouting at what sounded like Ben and Bev, who sounded a lot calmer. He flinched as Ben actually tried to shout back, obviously trying his best to get everyone to stay. Eddie felt sort of guilty about wanting to leave, he didn’t know if he was doing the right thing, if it would be best to go even when they’re lives would be in danger once they were gone. He thought back to what he had seen in the deadlights, all of them, dying, one by one, and in a terrifying way.

He spat into the sink, wiping his mouth with the nearest towel, watching as the water swirled around. He let out a sigh as he heard Richie call out that he'll give him ten minutes, obviously getting fed up with Ben and Bev trying to keep them where they were. They definitely weren’t giving up. Eddie shook his head, drying his hands and folding his towel back on the shelf. 

“Time to go.” He mumbled to himself, turning off the tap and reaching into the medicine cabinet above the sink for his collection of pills, medicine and whatever else he’d fitted into his medical stash from home.

He hurriedly gathered his stack of pills and stuck them on the worktop, making sure he got them all. Doing a last count of the tubs, and supplies, satisfied they were all there, Eddie shut the small door to the cupboard. That’s when he looked into the mirror of the door, and got the fright of his life.

“It’s your turn, Eddie Kaspbrak.”

Eddie’s insides ran cold as standing just feet behind him was Henry Bowers, there was no question about who he was. He still had that God-awful mullet, that disturbing grin, and those evil eyes that were dark and empty to look at.

Eddie didn’t even have time to turn around, for the next thing he knew he was being attacked. “Time to float!” Bowers crowed, as he hauled a knife from nowhere, and shoved it right into Eddie’s left cheek.

“Ah!” Eddie cried at the unexpected searing pain, horrified to see himself in the mirror, a knife sticking out of his face.

The hypochondriac had no clue what to do, he was freaking out, clearly, he had a knife in his face. Bowers was laughing like an absolute maniac as Eddie tumbled over to the bathtub, hands flailing by his head like that would magically get rid of the blade. The pain was unbelievable, it was so bad it didn’t compare to the time he’d snapped his arm in half at Neibolt. And there was Bowers, still cackling away like a damn witch as he stumbled into the side of the tub.

“Why...” Eddie choked out, too afraid to talk as the knife bobbed in his mouth, his tongue sliding along the sharp edge of the blade. “Why’d you... do that?”

“Because, Eddie,” Bowers chuckled, shrugging. “He says it’s your time, it’s your time to float.”

“Who?” Eddie mumbled, sounding panicked as he backed up right against the bath. “Who says... huh?”

Then, Bowers suddenly became serious, smiling creepily. “You know who, Eddie. You know _exactly_ who.”

Eddies eyes widened in realisation, of course he bloody did, of course Pennywise would have made this psychopath his right-hand man to try and murder him and his friends. There was no better choice in the whole of Derry.

“It’s your time now, Eddie!” Bowers began to laugh maniacally again, continuing to walk towards the smaller man.

Eddie felt just a tad creeped out, let alone petrified for his life, so decided to step backwards into the bathtub as a last resort, before Bowers could get a hold on him. He laughed along with Bowers, mostly due to absolute fear and not knowing what else to do, as he slowly closed the shower curtain, blocking himself from the crazy man. 

“Where'd you go, Kaspbrak?” 

Eddie could hear him on the other side of the drape. His first thought was to freeze and pretend that this was all a nightmare, but his second thought was that he had to do something, and fast, he was basically trapped in there. So, the best idea he could come up with was to use the knife. He didn’t exactly want to pull the damn thing out of the hole in his face, but he had no choice, so as swiftly as he could, Eddie yanked the blade from his cheek. He hissed at the hot, excruciating pain that came with it, trying not to cry or let out a scream. It was like something he’d never felt before. He was pretty sure he was close to puking his guts up.

But, he had no time for that. Bowers was just on the other side of that curtain, and his laughing had turned into growling. “Where are you, Eddie?”

Eddie held the knife securely in his grip, tuning out the pain in his face as best as he could, getting ready for the blow. “Where’s my fucking _knife_?” Bowers hollered, and that’s when Eddie struck. 

Thrusting the blade as hard as he could through the curtain, Eddie felt it stick into something more solid, and suddenly the curtain around the knife started to stain red. He waited in anticipation as the room went silent, and all that was heard was Bowers shuffling backwards, and the sound of the curtain being snapped off its rail. Eddie stared in horror as Bowers was revealed to him, standing there with the knife in his gut, the curtain still attached to it.

This was his chance, and he wasn’t going to lose it. Eddie clumsily, but as hasty as he could, stepped out of the bathtub and shimmied along the wall towards the exit, all the while keeping his eyes on the bully encase he made a move. He flinched as something he touched fell to the floor, but he didn’t care, he needed to get the hell out of there. But of course, he couldn’t leave without saying a proper goodbye, he’d just stabbed Henry Bowers in the chest, and boy did it feel good.

“Cut that fucking mullet man.” Eddie said, as Bowers stood unmoving. “Were not in the eighties anymore!” 

And with that, Eddie was free. His head spun as he go to the bedroom, almost tripping over a suitcase he’d left out, and falling into the wardrobe near the door. “Guys!” He effectively screamed at his friends, starting to feel just a tad sick as he opened the door, and went out, hoping they’d heard him.

As he came into the hallway, he could just about catch the sound of the others running full pelt up the stairs. Richie came into view first, calling his name in panic, and almost stopping dead at the sight of Eddie, looking like he was about to pass out.

“Eddie!” Richie yelped as he got to him, Bev screaming in shock at the sight. “Eddie! What the fuck happened?”

“Bowers!” Eddie hummed, falling down the wall as shock took over and into Richie who caught him. “He’s in my bathroom.”

Ben didn’t think twice before sprinting into the hotel room, heading straight for Bowers, and hopefully getting there in time. Richie and Bev stayed behind to help Eddie out, who now had a cascade of blood pouring from between his lips.

“Is it bad?” Eddie mumbled, as Richie touched his cheek gently.

“Yeah it’s bad.” Richie sounded angry, he _looked_ angry. “I’m going to fucking _kill_ Bowers, I swear to God!”

“I stabbed him.” Eddie said simply, like it was a day to day conversation. 

Bev and Richie looked at him in surprise, pretty impressed. “You _stabbed_ him?”

Eddie nodded, cringing at the movement. “Can I get some antiseptic or something?” He said, “My face hurts.”

Bev was quick to get up, “There’s a first aid kit downstairs, I’ll be right back!” 

That left Richie and Eddie alone for a minute, the two practically stuck to each other’s sides. Richie couldn’t believe this had happened, after everything he’d seen, everything he’d promised to Eddie to keep him safe, and Bowers had come along and knifed him in the face.

“Fuck, Eddie.” Richie growled, using his sleeve to try and wipe off some of the blood. “You scared me, you little shit. I thought the worst when you called for us.”

Eddie hummed, letting his head fall back against the wall, shutting his eyes. “He said it was my time, Pennywise said it was my time to float, he sent Bowers here. I think he actually was going to try to kill me.”

Richie felt his heart drop at Eddie’s words. His mind went straight back to the park, Pennywise holding Eddie, the same cut in his face, a massive wound in his chest, the blood, so much blood, was that Pennywise trying to tell him something? Was he literally attempting to kill Eddie to get to him? 

“Richie?”

The comedian snapped out of his thoughts, blinking at Eddie who was looking at him in confusion. They were both interrupted as Ben came back, panting and looking beyond worried.

“He escaped!” Ben breathed out, “He just pulled the knife out of himself and wasn’t fazed!” Eddie looked mortified by that revelation, groaning at the thought of Bowers still wandering around. “I watched him drive off, some... some monster was in the driver’s seat, I’m not sure where they were heading-,”

“I’ll find out!” Richie cut in, practically jumping to his feet. “I’m going to get that _bastard_!”

“What?” Eddie screeched, “Don’t be so fucking stupid!”

“No,” Richie shook his head, already making up his mind. “He almost _killed_ you Eddie and he could do it again, or to someone else! I’m not letting that happen! I’m going after him!”

“Richie!” Eddie reached out for the other man, grasping in his shirt to keep him there. “Please, Rich, be careful, please.”

“I will, sweetheart.” Richie said softly, leaning down to kiss Eddie on the forehead, before quickly descending the steps to get a good lead on Bowers, and before Eddie could say something to change his mind. 

He passed a confused Bev, as he jogged down the hall, ready to finally put an end to Henry Fucking Bowers if it was the last thing he did. 

Unluckily, Bowers had completely vanished by the time Richie had gotten to his car, and sped off down the road. He had no clue where he could have gone, or what his intentions were. Was he off to hurt someone else? To cause chaos somewhere in town? The comedian slowed down his driving, keeping an eye out on the streets as he passed by, thinking hard about what the psychopath could be doing. 

Listing off the most obvious of places, like the Synagogue, Church and park, where Bowers liked to cause disruptions as a teen, Richie drove passed each one to try and see if there was any sight of the man. But to no avail, Bowers wasn’t anywhere to be found. It was lucky that Richie took a turn down the middle of the town next, when he saw something that made him do a double take.

Driving passed him, in a beat up, classic vehicle, was what could only be described as a zombie version of Patrick Hockstetter, one of Bowers’s pals and accomplices. The creature was in the driver’s seat, casually cruising along, and as he drove passed Richie’s car he gave him a wave, along with an unnerving grin. Richie grimaced, and thought, Bowers had to be nearby. Then he looked up, slammed his breaks on the car, and knew exactly where to look. 

Richie practically fell out of the car, crossing the road without looking, and heading straight up the stone steps of the library. Outside the sun was nearly set, as Richie carefully, and soundlessly opened the door, wincing as it let out a slight squeak. Mike was supposed to be here, they were meant to meet him this evening, which meant there should have at least been a couple of lights on as it was getting dark, but there wasn’t, and that seemed a little bizarre. 

Richie’s suspicions were right of course, as the next thing he knew a loud bang sounded from inside the main room, followed by a yell that sounded a lot like Mike. Running through the entrance lobby, Richie yanked open one of the doors leading to the hall, and skidded to a halt as he saw Bowers, towering over Mike who was on his back on the floor, the other man holding a knife above him as Mike desperately tried to hold him off. 

“Time to join your parents!” Bowers cackled, “Can you see them now, Mike? All burnt and crisp!”

Richie felt panic surge in him, quickly looking around the room for something, anything to knock the bastard out. That’s when he came across his trusty weapon, a baseball bat, laying on the ground next to a smashed-up display case. Richie rushed to it, clutching it in his grip, and heading for the bully. He was still laughing like a madman, taunting, _bullying_ , and Richie thought of Eddie, what he’d done to Eddie, what he was _planning_ to do to Eddie. 

He swung the bat, right at Bowers’s head. The wood thumped the man so hard it made a crunching sound, as Bowers dropped to the ground with a shout, growling like a wild animal. Richie hurriedly helped Mike up, pushing him away towards the door, as he stood his ground, baseball bat held so tight in his clutch his fingers started to strain. 

“You fucker!” Bowers hissed, slowly standing to see the culprit who’d almost knocked him out. “Well, it if isn’t the faggot of Derry!” Bowers grinned manically, “Looks like you grew some balls, Tozier. Tell me, did you finally get to bone Kaspbrak?” He chuckled, starting to walk casually around the comedian, as if summing him up.

Richie tightened his grip on the bat after that last comment, the hatred for this fucker surfacing tenfold. “Fuck you, Bowers.” He spat out, feeling braver than he’s ever felt around the bully. Threatening and calling Eddie names was bad enough, but now he’s physically hurt him, and that gave him the courage he needed to bring this asshole down once and for all.

“Oh, look at you!” Bowers laughed hysterically, looking over at Mike. “Hey Mike, he actually has guts now. Can you believe this guy?” He said, stopping in his tracks. “Let’s hope you’ve got the guts when the clown comes for your _boyfriend,_ Tozier. You won’t be able to save him! He’s going to _bleed_ , he’s going to _choke,_ he’s going to-,”

“AHHHHH!” Richie had heard enough, he screamed noisily as he raised the bat, and swung it down towards the other man.

Bowers was too fast, ducking out of the way, as the bat crashed down on a table instead. The bully laughed in excitement as Richie continued to go for him, missing every time, instead breaking shelves, sending papers flying and glass shattering. All the while Bowers continued taunting him, laughing and joking, having the time of his life, seeing how much it reeled Richie up.

“Come on, gay boy!” Bowers yelled, as Richie almost struck him, sending the bat right into a bookshelf. “That the best you can do, cock sucker?”

Richie hated this fucker, he hated him, he hated him so much he took another swing and sent it right towards Bowers’s stupid, ugly mug. But, Bowers once again was too quick, and as the bat was inches from hitting its target, Bowers moved his hands up and caught it like it was easy.

“I think you need some practice.” Bowers grinned, his hands gripping in the bat so tight his knuckles turned white. 

Richie’s heart by now was in his throat, the adrenaline rushing through him, his insides feeling like they were on fire. But, as Bowers smiled eerily up at him, he had to admit, he was scared, he was as scared as he was all the other times Bowers had beaten and threatened him as a teen. 

“Come on, Richie.” Bowers spat, “Fight me!”

Richie didnt even get a chance to take another breath, before Bowers was using every ounce of strength he had to shove against the bat, flinging Richie backwards and right into a table. He groaned as his backbone collided with the edge, noticing he’d dropped the bat in the process, and had nothing to defend himself with.

“Richie, look out!” Mike called from the side.

Richie didn’t have time to react, before he felt a punch to the side of his face, sending him straight to the floor, and his glasses five feet away. He hissed at the stinging pain in his jaw, bringing a hand up to touch the sensitive area, wishing he hadn’t done that. 

“Get up!” Bowers bellowed, as he swung for Richie again, hitting him in the side of the head. “Fight me, you fucking pansy!”

Richie cried out in pain as he was kicked hard in the stomach, doubling over in instinct. Typical, he was getting beat up by Bowers like it were tradition, he’d forgotten how much it hurt too. He felt another blow to his side this time, hissing in a breath, and falling to his back.

“Come on Tozier!” Bowers screamed, starting to look livid, like he wanted him to fight back, to make a damn effort.

Richie groaned as he was grabbed by the collar of his jacket, and Bowers’s fist collided with his face not once, not twice, but three times, before he growled like a crazy person who’s literally lost his god damn mind. Which, really, he had, a long time ago. Richie didn’t know how he was going to get out of this, how he was supposed to fight back when Bowers had all his weight on him, and Richie was as good at throwing a punch as he was at being straight. 

But thankfully, Richie wasn’t alone. As Bowers lifted his hand to land another hit, Richie just about saw Mike sneak up to the bully, and in a split-second Bowers was once again knocked off of his victim, after the bat made contact with his head. As Bowers moaned and held his head in his hands on the floor, Mike hurriedly helped Richie up, the taller of the two hissing at the pain in his side, almost falling back down.

“Richie, you alright, man?” Mike asked concerned, holding him up.

“Fucking fantastic.” Richie mumbled, watching as Bowers wiggled on the floor, rubbing at his head. “What’s his head made out of, fucking steel? Pass out already!” Richie scowled, seriously, the guy had been hit twice in the head, hard, and he was still conscious. 

And if Richie didn’t do anything now, he was pretty sure him and Mike were buggered. So, he groggily took the bat out of his friend’s hand, and slowly made his way towards the man who’d made the Losers childhood a living hell. 

“Richie?” Mike called him quietly, not to spook Bowers. “Richie, what are you doing? Be careful!”

Richie raised the bat, “Third time lucky, right?”

Bowers was by now up on his knees, slowly, and clumsily getting to his feet, and would probably carry on to beat the crap out of Richie until his last breath. Richie took that chance, and as Bowers turned around to face him, using all the energy he had left in him, Richie brought the bat down into the man’s skull, hitting him with a ear-splitting crack. 

Bowers went down like a sack of potatoes, falling right into one of the glass displays, breaking it into pieces and making one hell of a mess. The hall suddenly went silent, the only sound coming from Richie who breathing was slightly louder than usual, his hands shaking like he were chilled to the bone, the bat slipping out of his hand.

“My god,” Mike whispered, as he approached his friend and handed him his glasses, eyeing up Bowers. “Are you okay?”

Richie nodded, trying desperately to calm down. “Is he... is he dead?”

Mike got down on his knees, avoiding the pool of blood that started to form around Bowers’s head, and carefully he nudged his head, trying to take a look at the wound where the blood was coming from. He felt sick at the ornament that was practically embedded in his skull, where the liquid was flowing from, he must have fallen right into it as he hit the display cabinet. Judging by the blood curdling injury in his skull, Mike was pretty sure Bowers wasn’t going to get back up this time. 

“He’s dead.” Mike confirmed, quickly standing back up.

Richie felt his stomach turn. He’d wanted the man dead, he’d wanted him dead for laying a hand on Eddie, it was his goal after finding him. But, holy crap, he’d actually done it, and boy did it make him feel as sick as a dog that he’d actually taken a life so easily. He could feel his insides moving, the acid building up in his stomach, and the next thing he knew he was throwing up right next to Bowers’s dead body.

“Fuck.” He gurgled, turning away from the crime scene, and wobbling over to the nearest hard surface, because, Jesus, he needed to sit down.

As if on queue, the door to the library slammed open, and as Richie was taking a seat on a table by the window, in strolled Eddie looking frantic, followed by Ben and Bev. Once Eddie saw Richie on the table, face bloodied up and bruises in places, Eddie almost had a heart attack, just about sprinting towards him. 

“Richie!” Eddie cried, embracing the man as soon as he was in arms reach, the older man letting out a groan. “Shit, sorry.”

“Mmm.” Richie hummed, noticing the square bandage covering the stab wound on Eddie’s face. “Like the new look.”

“What the hell happened?” Ben asked, as they all took in the scene around them. No-one yet had noticed the body of Henry Bowers, laying in a puddle of blood. 

“I killed Bowers.” Richie said casually, pointing a finger at where it happened.

The three newcomers looked to where he was pointing, and gasped at what they saw. They couldn’t believe it, Bowers was there, stone still, blood blanketing his hair. He was most definitely not with the living anymore, that much was for certain.

“Shit.” Eddie let out, holding onto Richie’s hand, and using the other to inspect his injuries. “Are you okay, Rich? How bad did he hurt you? What the fuck did he do?”

“Richie got here just in time,” Mike said for him, as Ben and Bev helped him grab a blanket that was draped over one of the reading sofas, carefully covering the dead man. “Bowers nearly killed me, Richie got him with the baseball bat.”

“You did?” Eddie smiled, looking proud.

Richie nodded, “Didn’t do much though, fucker’s the terminator or something.”

“He beat up Richie pretty bad.” Mike informed them, the other three joining the couple. “But Richie got him in the end, he was brilliant.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have done it without your help, Mikey.” Richie smiled at his friend, which was true, he wouldn’t have been able to take him down alone. 

“We’re just glad you’re okay, Richie.” Bev said, rubbing his arm comfortingly. 

“Yeah,” Ben smiled, “At least Bowers is gone. One less thing to worry about.”

Richie snorted, leaning into Eddie’s soft touch, as he combed a hand through his hair. “I just killed someone guys.”

“You’ll be fine, Richie.” Mike assured him, “We’ll tell the police he attacked me, then tried to kill you, you were just defending yourself. It was an accident he died.”

“And a fucking blessing.” Eddie mumbled, the others silently agreeing.

“Whatever,” Richie shrugged, because right now he just wanted to take a damn nap. “Anyone got any pizza? I’m fucking starving.”

The others laughed, glad he was at least still himself, which was a good sign. 

“Hey,” Mike suddenly realised. “Has anyone seen Bill?”

The next few minutes was spent trying to contact Bill, who wouldn’t answer his phone. Bev had seen him at the townhouse earlier, telling the others of the weird incident with a skateboard that had a blood message dripping from it, and Bill had rushed off somewhere, saying something about saving a kid. They hoped he was alright, still trying his phone now and again, sure he would answer at some point. 

As Mike, Bev and Ben tried to do that, and come up with a plan for what to do next, Eddie , with his first aid kit from the office, tried his best to take care of Richie’s injuries. They weren’t as bad as they looked, as soon as he’d cleaned away the blood, there was one cut across Richie’s eyebrow, a bruise around his eye, and a clear split lip, but thankfully, the bruising was worse than the open wounds. He’d even made Richie brush his teeth with one of Mike’s spare toothbrushes, because, ew, Eddie was not going near him with vomit breath.

“Ow!” Richie moaned, as Eddie dabbed at the cut on his eyebrow. 

“Don’t be such a big baby,” Eddie told him, being gentle. “I told you to be careful, you moron! And what do you do? Fight the bastard. Why am I not surprised?”

Richie smirked, “Well, anything for my Eddiekins.”

“Don’t you fucking start.” Eddie huffed, throwing the cotton ball into the nearest bin. “This is exactly like that time you were almost beaten to a pulp! And remember what you promised me that day, dickwad?”

_July 1992_

_Richie was happily strolling along down one of Derry’s picturesque streets when it happened. He was on his way to meet up with Eddie, excited to give him his favourite chocolates he bought him that morning, but he wasn’t expecting to come across what he saw. As the sixteen-year-old passed by a couple of houses, and was approaching a turning, leading off to a woodland clearing, he heard something that made him stop in his tracks._

_“Please, stop it!”_

_It was Eddie._

_“Stop! Give that back!”_

_Richie felt the anger in him surge, and sprinted around the corner. He came to a halt, and was ready to gut the bastards that were surrounding his boyfriend. Eddie was forced up against a tree, as two thugs from their school had recently moved there stood before him, right up in his space, jeering and laughing as one of them held up Eddie’s asthma pump and another boy held onto his bag._

_“Give it back!” Eddie almost sobbed, looking so tiny compared to the tall, bulky teenagers. “you’ll break it!”_

_They weren’t listening of course, they just continued to laugh. Eddie tried to lunge for his asthma pump, not wanting another one to break, but the beefier boy of the two pushed Eddie with such force into the tree, the wind was knocked out of him and he fell onto the floor. Eddie clutched into his chest as his Richie saw red._

_“HEY!”_

_The two bullies looked up in unison as Richie stomped towards them, Eddie curled in on himself as he coughed and splattered by their feet. That urged Richie on even more, hands curling into fists._

_“Get the_ fuck _away from him, assholes!” He growled, making the two boys laugh hysterically._

_“What are you going to do about it, faggot?” One taunted, tossing Eddie’s asthma pump to the side._

_“Come to save your little princess, huh?” The other snickered, and shoved his boot into Eddie’s side, causing the boy to inhale sharply. And that was the last straw for Richie._

_Without another thought he drove his fist right into the kid who kicked Eddie, whacking him so hard in the face the boy tumbled and had to catch himself, his hand coming to rub at the sore spot on his cheek. He stared at Richie in surprise, who gritted his teeth and stood strong._

_“Don’t you dare lay another fucking hand on him!” Richie seethed, heart racing and adrenaline pumping like it was nobody’s business. He was ready!_

_And he had to be. As the next thing he knew the taller of the two was charging, yelling loudly, and fist flying up ready to strike. Richie managed to duck that one, but didn’t see the other fist from the other kid heading right for his side._

_“Richie!” Eddie gasped, seeing his boyfriend groan in pain as he was struck in the ribs, doubling over. “No, stop!”_

_“Come on, queer!” the shorter kid screamed, “That all you got?”_

_Richie growled, charging like a bull, just about missing the tall kid, and stumbling. Next thing he knew, the bigger guy was on top of him, throwing a punch right to his left eye. He could hear Eddie screaming in panic, his voice scratchy, and he got the motivation he needed, to knee the bully hard in the nuts. The kid groaned loudly and covered his private, Richie cringing himself at the sight, but taking that chance to get back on his feet, because the other guy was coming right at him._

_“Bastard!” He shouted, swinging for Richie, who thankfully ducked in time, and managed to punch the other kid in the nose. That had done it, he was pissed. “Get him!”_

_Before Richie could even react, he felt the bulkier boy grab him from behind, keeping him in place by holding onto his arms so tight it would probably bruise. Richie kicked out, trying to get himself free, but was too late, he felt a fist collide with his stomach, then another, his legs giving out as a third one landed right under his ribcage, his glasses landing on the floor._

_“Stop!” Eddie cried, inelegantly getting to his feet, and stumbling towards the group. “Stop it, you’re hurting him!” He tried to tug at the guy’s arm that had began punching Richie in the face, but he growled, flinging Eddie away like he weighed nothing. “Ah!” Eddie hissed as he landed on his back._

_As he sat up, he could see the bad state Richie was already in. His nose was bloody, eye swollen, cuts along his jaw, and Eddie began to sob. “Please stop!” He begged, “Please, you’re fucking killing him! Stop!”_

_Eddie’s desperation seemed to pay off, as the duo struck one last time, before letting Richie drop limply to the ground. He groaned as his side connected with the dirt, coughing up whatever was stuck in his throat, wishing he could fall asleep and the pain would be gone by the time he woke up again._

_“That’s what you get, you fucking fairy.” One of the bullies hissed in Richie’s ear, giving him one last kick to the leg._

_The other boy snorted, and spat in Richie’s face, “You’re lucky were in a good mood today, Tozier. Next time, you even think about coming within feet of us, we'll give your little_ boyfriend _a night to remember.”_

_Richie just scoffed, not being able to talk from the blood clogging up his mouth. The two bullies just laughed, sharing a high five, until they decided they were moving on to do more damage somewhere else, to Eddie’s relief. They sauntered past Eddie, giving him dirty looks, and disappeared around the corner and out of sight. As soon as they left, Eddie was on his feet and racing over to his boyfriend and picking up the glasses, dropping to his knees and not knowing where to put his hands._

_“Richie?” Eddie said, sounding worried. He gently put a hand to his shoulder, trying not to move him too much, as he used the other to slip on Richie’s glasses. The older boy definitely had a swollen eye, a split lip and a bruise forming on his left cheek. Not to mention the possible bruising he’d have on his ribs, and along his legs. “Hey, Richie? Can you get up?”_

_“I don’t wanna,” Richie mumbled, “M'comfy.”_

_Eddie snorted, “No you’re fucking not, you idiot. Please get up, I need to get you to a hospital!”_

_“Hell no!” Richie groaned, as he tried to push himself to a sitting position, Eddie swiftly helping him up. “M'fine! No hospital.”_

_“Fine,” Eddie sighed, not liking it, but knowing he’d be the same if he had the choice. They both hated hospitals, and he was sure he could help Richie to the best of his abilities. “Come on, my mom’s out for the day at my aunts, let’s go.”_

_“What about our date?’ Richie pouted, as Eddie helped him stand, his legs wobbling like jelly._

_Eddie could only smile at that, “There’s always tomorrow, silly.”_

_“M'kay.” Richie hummed, since he couldn’t exactly argue in his state._

_It took them longer than usual to get to Eddie’s house, the taller, and much heavier boy hanging off Eddie like a dead weight, almost passing out a few times from exhaustion. It was a miracle they even got up the front porch steps, almost stumbling right into the door, and struggling to then get up the staircase and into the bathroom. Eddie felt relieved when he carefully helped Richie onto the edge of the bathtub, before he sprinted downstairs to grab the first aid kit._

_When he returned to the bathroom, Richie was bent forward, head practically in his lap. “You okay, Rich?”_

_“Ng'Yeah,” he huffed, slowly sitting back up. “Your mom gonna be long? Could use a kiss to make it all better.”_

_Eddie huffed, slamming the first aid kit onto the toilet seat. “Yeah, you’re perfectly fine it seems, fuckface.”_

_Richie grinned, teeth bloody. “Love you, my Edsie Spaghedsie.”_

_“Shut it,” Eddie told him, as he sat next to him on the tub, and fiddled around with the first aid kit. “Carry on, and you can do this yourself.”_

_“M'yes sir.” Richie chuckled, frowning as a sharp pain shot through his head._

_“You’re so stupid, you know that?” Eddie started, picking out the alcohol and cotton, and finding some creme for the cuts. “You could have gotten yourself killed!” He said, turning to the other boy as he wet the cotton with the alcohol, and started to dab away at the cuts and bruises on his face. Richie hissed at the sting, biting his lip to try and ease it. “You always do stupid shit like this, you never think first! What if it happens again, huh? You going to keep getting beaten up like this?”_

_Richie began to grin again, making Eddie stop in his tracks and huff in agitation. “Why are you smiling, dickhead?”_

_“Because,” Richie shrugged. “You’re always so cute when you’re mad.”_

_“Richie!” Eddie growled, throwing down the cotton onto the toilet lid, and crossing his arms over his chest, annoyed beyond words. “I’m being fucking serious! You can’t keep getting into fights every time someone so much as looks at me! This isn’t the first time, but this is definitely the worst! It scared me, Rich!” Eddie almost cried, expression slowly changing from that of anger to complete worry. “You can’t keep doing this, one day you really will get hurt!”_

_Richie’s smug smile was wiped off his face at Eddie’s expression, he felt a tad guilty of making the situation into a joke. If anything, he didn’t want Eddie to worry and feel upset._

_“I’m sorry, Eddie.” He said genuinely, leaning down to rest his forehead on the smaller boy’s shoulder. “I just want to protect you, don’t want anyone hurting my Eddiekins.”_

_Eddie huffed at the nickname, “You don’t need to keep getting yourself hurt though, can’t you like... I don’t know... just call the cops or something!”_

_Richie snorted, sitting back up. “And what are they gonna do? Smack the bullies on the wrist and let them go?”_

_Eddie shrugged, not admitting that Richie was totally right. “Just... Please be careful from now on, yeah? I don’t want to have to actually call an ambulance one day.”_

_“I promise.” Richie nodded, flinching as that small movement made his head hurt. “I’m still going to protect you at all costs though! M'gonna always look after my little Spaghetti Man.”_

_Eddie rolled his eyes, “Keep calling me that and you can tend to your own wounds.”_

_Richie smiled, “Worth it.”_

_Eddie glared, as he picked up a clean cotton ball, and dipped it in the alcohol. He had a funny feeling this wouldn’t be the last time Richie’s face would be decorated in grazes and bruises._

“Nope,” Richie feigned innocence, “Not at all. All I remember was defending my boyfriend’s honour.”

Eddie snorted, reaching for the creme and carefully rubbing it into the cut. “You promised you’d be careful, Rich. This doesn’t look like you were slightly careful to me.”

“If I remember correctly,” Richie said, grabbing Eddie by the hips and pulling him closer, as he finished with his eyebrow and slipped his glasses back on for him. “I also said I’ll always look after my little Spaghetti Man.”

Eddie frowned, “I dare you to call me that again.”

Richie chuckled, ribs hurting at the movement. Eddie obviously noticed, frown turning into a look of worry, he wasted no time in reaching for the hem of Richie’s shirt to lift it up.

“Hey!” Richie whined, trying to smack his hands away. “I’d love to have my way with you at a library, Eds, but Christ, there’s an audience!”

“Shut up!” Eddie warned him, cautiously lifting the fabric, to reveal a blooming cruise along Richie’s ribs. “Fuck, Rich! That’s huge! You need an ice pack or something, and some rest, I’ll go find you something from the office and see if I can-,”

“Woah, woah!” Richie grinned, pushing his shirt back down to hide the bruise, pulling Eddie’s hands away by his wrists. “Hey, Eddie, I’m fine. It’s just a bruise, dude.”

“It’s a big bloody bruise, Rich.” Eddie said, letting Richie pull him into his arms, winding his own arms around the older man’s shoulders. “This could have been a lot worse you idiot, he could have killed you. I’ve seen you beat up too many times as a kid, Rich, I can’t do that again!”

“I know,” Richie sighed, running his hands up and down the smaller man’s sides in a comforting gesture. “I am sorry, Eddie. You know I had to do it though, right? I can’t let anything happen to you, I have to protect you, I wasn’t kidding when I said that. And if that means I get punched and kicked until I bruise like a damn peach, then so be it.”

Eddie sighed in defeat, “There’s no stopping you is there?”

“Nope,” Richie grinned cheekily, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Eddie responded with a kiss, being careful not to aggravate the cut on Richie’s lips, keeping it short and gentle, pleased he’d made Richie brush his teeth earlier. Richie groaned softly into the kiss as he felt Eddie’s fingers massage the bad of his skull, wishing they could stay like this for the rest of the night. 

“Uuurgh,” Richie whined as Eddie pulled back, “That’s just how your mom used to kiss me.”

Eddie was not impressed. “Fuck you, dude.” He said, not moving to Richie’s surprise. “You’re lucky your hurt, or I’d have pushed you off this fucking table by now.”

Richie snickered; he didn’t doubt it. “Don’t worry, you’re still better in bed.”

“I’m never sleeping with you again, asshole.” Eddie huffed annoyed, tugging on Richie’s hair.

“Oh, that felt good,” Richie teased, kissing along Eddie’s neck. “Do it again.”

“I fucking hate you.” Eddie sighed, as Richie planted kisses on his cheek. “You’re a dick. I don’t know how I even fell for you.”

“My undoubtable charm,” Richie said seriously, “And my huge penis.”

Eddie groaned, he should have seen that one coming. He couldn’t help but laugh though, even when Richie was in pain and had injuries from a fist brawl with a psychopath, he was still cracking jokes just to put a smile on Eddie’s face.

“Is that a laugh?” Richie grinned, “Did you just laugh at my dick joke?”

“You’re imagining things,” Eddie said, not being able to hold back a smile. “Hit your head, you’ve got a concussion.”

“Pretty sure I didn’t.” Richie chuckled, pulling Eddie into a hug, and snuggling his face into the crook of his neck. “Man, I love you.”

“I love you too, Rich.” Eddie smiled into the comedian’s hair, “Even though you tell awful mom jokes, and dumb dick jokes.”

Richie laughed softly into his shoulder, relaxing into him, closing his eyes and revelling in the moment. Eddie did the same, continuing to run his fingers through the older man’s long locks, resting his head on top of his, silently thanking God for looking after his boyfriend. 

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, but was only minutes in reality. Ben was the one to approach the couple, calling their names quietly, wishing he didn’t have to deliver the news he was about to. Richie and Eddie could tell right away as they looked up, that Ben was about to tell them something they did not want to hear.

“Guys,” Ben began, as Bev and Mike came over, looking just as worried. “Bill’s gone to Neibolt.”

Richie and Eddie felt a chill run down their spine, their perfect moment shattered by the reality of the situation. They wanted to leave, they wanted to go home, get the hell out of there and never look back. 

“Bill needs us.” Mike said to the pair, pleading with his eyes. “Please, we all need to stay together, we need to finish this.”

“We can’t do it without you.” Bev added.

And they knew their friends were right. The Losers had to stick together, fight as a team, or there was no way they were going to get out of this alive. Not to mention if they left now, Eddie’s nightmares really would come true, and they’d die, die horribly. There was no avoiding this, and deep down they both knew it.

“So,” Richie sighed, grasping Eddie’s hand in his. “I guess were going to Neibolt.”

Eddie looked petrified as he shared a look with Richie, but nodded. “I guess so.”

And that was that. The Losers gathered themselves together, grabbing what they needed, and left the destroyed library. Derry was in darkness as they walked the streets towards the decaying house, but they stuck close together, not once faltering in their steps. Richie and Eddie’s hands clasped together firmly, knowing that if they had one another, they could do this. The Losers would beat that fucking clown, just like they had twenty-seven years ago. But this time, they’d make sure Pennywise will never wake from his sleep again.


	7. The House

It didn’t take too long for the five Losers to reach Neibolt street from the library. The edge of town seemed eerily quietly in the pitch black of the night as they’d walked through, hardly a soul in sight, like Pennywise was already taunting them, like he’d made the entirety of the town just disappear. Luckily they knew the people were at the carnival or taking part in the towns festivities nearby, but it still didn’t help their paranoia, thinking something would jump out at them, or a monster would slither around a corner, and a red balloon would start floating into the sky. 

Neibolt street was even spookier in the shadows, not that that surprised them. It had always had that mysterious, unnerving aura about it, and as kids they’d figured out why. None of the houses had any lights on as they strolled down the road, everyone’s eyes on the lookout, nobody speaking a word, too afraid to. Eddie could remember always taking this route home, whistling out loud or listing off that weeks homework to try and keep his mind off the spooky house he’d have to pass, and he felt it now as an adult, that feeling of uneasiness, knowing what was waiting at the end of the road. 

Richie felt his partner’s hand hold his a little firmer, making him look down at the other man. He could already tell Eddie was feeling anxious and afraid, judging by the wide eyes and how he was biting his bottom lip so hard it looked red and irritated.

“Hey,” Richie whispered to him, gaining the man’s attention. “We got this.”

Eddie smiled hesitantly at his boyfriend, “I know.”

Richie winked light-heartedly, pulling the smaller man’s arm to wrap around his waist, as he flung his own arm over Eddie’s shoulder. “Fuck yeah.”

They all felt the apprehension as they approached it, seeing the black, decaying rooftop peeking over the tall, leafless trees. And as they walked by those trees, the crumbling house came into full view, standing there exactly as it stood twenty odd years ago, nothing changed, not even the roots crawling up the side of the building. It was just as scary, just as unsettling, just as Pennywise had left it for the whole town to see.

But it wasn’t the house that caught their eye right off the bat, it was what was laying on the ground, just metres away from the entrance. A bike, Bill’s bike, his silver glory dumbed in the dead grass. It didn’t take long for them to take notice of Bill himself, who was just climbing the front steps looking like he was in a bit of a hurry, and before he could get anywhere near the front door the Losers quickly rushed into the front yard.

“Bill!” Bev called out, stopping him in his tracks. “Wait!”

Bill spun around at the sound of his friend’s voice, surprised to see every one of them there. He wasn’t expecting them to go anywhere near that place, very sure they’d leave, all except Mike. He’d wanted them to leave, he’d wanted to keep them all safe, and away from any harm, because they shouldn’t be there, he should be there alone and taking on the monsters by himself.

“No!” Bill yelled at them, as they each stood in the dead garden. He saw the bandage on Eddie’s face, the injuries to Richies, and already felt more guilt knowing his friends were hurt because of him. “No guys, please go! I s-started all of this, it’s m-my fault you’re all h-here. This curse, this _thing_ th-that’s growing inside you, it all s-started when I m-made you go down to the barrens, because all I cared about was finding G-G-Georgie.”

The Losers listened to his every word, and he was grateful for it. “Now,” he told them. “I’m going to g-go down there by m-myself, I don’t know w-what’s going to h-happen, but I c-c-can’t ask you to do this!”

“Well,” Bev quickly jumped in, before Bill could say another word. “We’re not asking you either.”

“We did this together when we were kids,” Mike added, “We’re doing it together now.”

Ben nodded in agreement, “Losers stick together, remember?”

Bill nodded, “I k-know, guys. I know I j-just… I don’t want anyone else t-t-to get h-hurt.”

“We’ll be fine, Bill.” Bev told him, “We’ll be fine if we stay together.”

“You have no choice,” Mike said, shrugging. “We want to help you, man. We’re here to finish this, as a team.”

“Whether you like it or not.” Bev added.

Bill didn’t know what to say, he’d been knocked speechless. By the way Bev had picked up a metal rod belonging to the fence, and how the others had the look of determination on their faces, he had a feeling he couldn’t change their minds, even if he tried. He’d bet any money that even if he ran inside and locked the doors, his friends would be banging it down to follow him in. The Losers went quiet then, knowing that argument was done, but not exactly knowing what to do next.

“So,” Eddie said, feeling unnerved by the silence. “Is anyone gonna say something before we go in?” 

Bill smiled, looking at Richie. “You said it best when we were here last time.”

Richie frowned, confused. “I did?” He questioned, thinking back to when they’d fought It the first time around, he’d said some silly shit then, and had no idea which one Bill was getting at. “I don’t wanna die?”

“Not that.” Bill confirmed.

“Uh,” Richie shrugged. “You’re lucky were not measuring dicks.” That one obviously made Eddie want to roll his eyes, as the others just shook their heads in amusement. 

“Try again.” Bill smirked, stepping closer to his group of friends.

“Let’s kill this fucking clown?” Richie hoped that was it, that sounded more like it.

Bill let out a laugh, nodding. “That’s the one.”

Richie hummed, he liked that one. He gave Eddie’s hand a squeeze, and said with confidence, “Let’s go kill this _fucking_ clown.”

Once they’d gotten that out of the way, the Losers quickly gathered, and together, they made their way up the creaking steps and to the front door, each one of them feeling a sense of fear just as they had twenty-seven years ago. Bill went in first, shining his torch around the entrance, deeming it clear as the others followed him inside. Eddie stuck close to Richie’s side as they slowly crept into the house, hand clutching the older man’s arm, his eyes wondering around the old, dark place. Boy, did he hate it with a burning passion.

To be honest, it was even eerier looking than when they were younger, it had a lot to do with the fact that it was night time, and they could hardly see a thing. Thick, gristly cobwebs had grown and spread along every wall and window like a blanket, the wood looked even more rotted and diseased, and well, there was some smoking, tarlike goop running down the stairs like a waterfall which added a nice effect to the whole haunted house vibe.

“Huh,” Richie said out of the blue, startling a few of his friends as he cut through the silence. “I like what he’s done with the place.”

“Beep beep, Richie.” Eddie whispered next to him.

Richie smiled and comforted him by leaning down to kiss him atop his head, Eddie just grateful to have him near. As Mike came into the house last, he let the door swing shut behind him, and the Losers went further inside. Torches shone over every surface, and through every door, checking they wouldn’t walk right into a trap. Bill made his way down one of the hallways, leading him to the door that opened up to the kitchen, the one where Eddie had fallen through the ceiling and landed on the table, his arm snapping like a toothpick. He and Richie went in behind Bill, eyeing up the broken table that was still there, and the giant hole still in the ceiling where he’d fell through.

“Great,” Eddie mumbled, as Richie went further in to check the conservatory on the other side of the room. “Right where I left it.”

_“Eddie!”_

_“Help! No! Help me!”_

_“Eddie!”_

_Richie and Bill practically crashed through the door to the old kitchen, and stopped dead when they saw what was happening. Eddie was backed up against a cabinet on the floor, holding his arm to his chest, and screaming as Pennywise towered over him, holding his face with his long, pointy fingers. The clown turned slowly to face Bill and Richie, and they gasped, as the monster’s mouth had grown into a wide, cavern of sharp, needle like teeth, thousands of them protruding from within. As his mouth suddenly began to turn to normal, the clown turned to Bill._

_“Am I not real enough for you, Bill?” Pennywise whined, feeling the boy’s fear diminish, making him feel weaker, smaller. “Is this not real enough?” he continued, grip still on Eddie’s face, as he grinned, “Was real enough for Georgie…”_

_“Holy shit.” Richie whispered, eyes trained on Eddie, as he began to sob. “Eddie.”_

_Pennywise grinned manically, gaze diverting to Richie. “It’s real enough for Eddie too.”_

_“NO!” Richie screamed as Pennywise spun back around towards Eddie, and gripped in his neck._

_Eddie choked from the tight hold on his throat, crying out as he was lifted into the air like he weighed as much as a doll, screwing his eyes shut in pure agony as his broken arm stirred in his hold._

_“Eddie!” Richie bellowed, not even thinking before he ran to his friend, but was flung back as the clown pushed his chest with barely any effort. He crashed to the floor by the door, groaning as he felt around frantically for his glasses after they fell off, desperate to save Eddie._

_Bill growled, his turn to attack, charging like a bull towards Pennywise. But he too was unsuccessful, as the laughing clown knocked him to the ground with one swipe of his arm, making him land in the conservatory._

_Pennywise giggled, snapping his neck back around to grin up at Eddie, “Do you want to float, Eddie?”_

_Eddie sobbed and moaned in pain, kicking his legs out as they dangled below him. He could feel the sharp point of the monster’s fingernails, the aching grasp of his hand, and then, he could smell the fowl stench of its breath before he opened his eyes. Eddie whimpered in fright, as once again Pennywise opened his mouth wide, his big, spikey teeth growing out, ready to take a bite._

_“Eddie!” Richie screamed once more, as he slipped his glasses on, and saw as Pennywise let out a gurgling cry, and prepared to attack his friend with his row of deadly teeth._

_Luckily for them, Bev came out of nowhere, and sliced a metal bar right through Pennywise’s head, from one side to the other. The clown screeched, dropping Eddie like a ragdoll, who cried out in absolute anguish as he hit the floor not so gracefully. The Losers watched as It stumbled, twisting and turning around to eye at them all, as blood flowed from the hole in its head, the bar still etched inside. Richie quickly sprinted around the clown as it headed towards the door, practically falling to Eddie’s side, helping him to sit up._

_He put his arms protectively around the crying boy, as everyone saw Pennywise give them one last glance, before disappearing out of the kitchen. The Losers went into chaos as soon as they were alone, crowding Eddie who was sobbing and yelling out in pain._

_“Eddie!” Richie tried to calm the boy, who was clutching at his obviously broken arm. “It’s okay, calm down!”_

_“No!” Eddie yelled, slapping Bill’s hand away as he tried to lift him. “Stop! It hurts!”_

_“We’ve got to snap it back into place!” Richie said over the shouting, as everyone started to panic._

_“Do not fucking touch me!” Eddie screamed at Richie, as the older boy took hold of his arm, and gently moved it. “Don’t fucking touch me!”_

_Richie ignored his screams, the unsure warnings from the rest of his friends, wanting nothing but to help. So, he did what he thought was right, and with one swift move, he snapped Eddie’s arm into place. Eddie screeched in agonising pain as his bones made a sickening crack._

_“Jesus, Richie!” Mike said from the side, his stomach turning at the awful sound._

_“We’ve got to get him home!” Bill said, already putting a hand under Eddie’s arm to help lift him up. “Come on!”_

_Eddie continued to cry as Richie and Bill got him to stand, wishing the pain would go away. Bev, Ben, Mike and Stan took the lead as they ran from the kitchen to open the door and get their bikes ready, as Eddie was practically carried out through the house. Eddie leant on Richie the entire time, as Richie held him close, holding up his arm as carefully as he could._

Richie frowned, gaze moving away from the table, not wanting to be reminded of that time Eddie had been seconds away from becoming clown chow. Pointing his torch into the small room of the kitchen, he grimaced as the only things to be seen were rotting walls and a ceiling that had some weird, runny, brown stuff dripping from it which he most definitely did not want to find the source of. As he stepped away from the room, a short yelp came from the front of the house, where the other three had stayed to nose around.

“Ben?” they all heard Bev shout in distress.

Bill and Eddie shared a look of dread and got ready to leave the room, but then, the door to the kitchen slammed shut all on its own and trapped them inside. The two hurriedly sprinted to it, Eddie seizing the handle and desperately trying to open it, as Bill slammed his fists on the wood, yelling for his friends on the other side. They could hear the others screaming, Ben obviously in pain from something, his wailing getting louder and louder.

Richie tried walking around for something, anything that could help them get that damn door open. Then, as he pointed his torch straight at the fridge, he gasped, watching in horror as it began to shake violently. Eddie and Bill’s attention was soon diverted to it, as a loud thud emitted from inside. The three men stood frozen, as the fridge shook and jolted, banging against the wall, making one hell of a racket. 

“That’s not normal right?” Richie asked, just as the door to the fridge flung open, and they could see just what was sitting inside.

“Oh my God.” Bill breathed out, mouth agape at what they were seeing.

Inside the mouldy, damp fridge, was a lovely severed head, not just any head, oh no, Pennywise wanted to be even more cruel, because it was the head of their deceased friend Stanley when he was just thirteen years old. And not only that, his eyes were white and misty, skin all decaying and ripped, and his black lips was pale and dotted with dark blood, like he’d been decomposing away in the ground for months. They all held their breath when the head actually began to move like it wasn’t removed from its body, Stan’s face then stared right at Richie, smiling, its stained teeth and rotting, stretched skin making him almost unrecognizable. 

“It’s Stan.” Richie said, as a matter of fact. Because well, what the actual fuck?

They definitely weren’t expecting Stan’s head to suddenly start screeching like a banshee, let alone bounce out of the fridge, and start rolling like a bowling ball to the other side of the room. Richie was quick to step out of the way, Bill followed suit, and Eddie practically plastered himself against the wall, feeling his chest tighten, and a possible panic attack coming on. Now was not a good time!

“This is your fault.” The head of Stan started to speak, looking up at Bill this time. “I’d still be alive if it wasn’t for you. You’re going to get us all killed, Billy boy!” 

“No,” Bill stuttered, shaking his head. This wasn’t happening. “No, no, Stan. No.”

Stan then began to jiggle on the floor, his expression actually looking afraid, and just slightly confused, his eyes moving to look at Richie, “Richie, what’s happening?”

Richie wanted to answer, but he was too busy wondering the same thing, because, holy shit something was starting to tear its way through Stan's face, and it did not look pretty. As it tore through the rotted flesh, it stretched to reveal a spiderlike leg, with a tiny claw on its end. But it didn’t end there, more and more started to pierce their way through Stan’s head, sprouting out like some weird, blossoming plant. The creepiest thing were the tiny, shorter legs that wiggled their way through the front of Stan s face, like crab claws, snapping away.

“Well, that’s not something you see every day.” Richie said, regretting every damn step he’d taken to get here in that moment. 

He regretted it even more when Stan’s head all of a sudden let out a piercing roar, its teeth growing into deadly, sharp spikes. In a split second, the legs came to life, Stan's head heading right for Richie who was faster and escaped onto the nearest cupboard. Stan didn’t stop as he diverted his course, picking on Eddie this time, who yelled in fear, as the thing made a dive for him. Eddie’s instinct was to kick the fucker right in its face, and that he did, sending it flying through the air like a football and landing with a thump in the middle of the room. Eddie got the hell away from the door, finding another corner of the room to hide.

This time, Stan’s head chose Bill to chase after. It got up onto its long, gangly legs and raced straight for the author, who jumped back in time, ducking right as Stan squealed and took a leap for Bill’s head. The monster went over the side of the cupboard Bill ducked in front of, and disappeared somewhere behind it. They could all hear the distinct sound of shuffling and quick steps, fading out fast. Bill and Richie hurriedly shined their torches in there, making sure it wasn’t about to surprise them again, but it seemed like Stan’s weird heard thing had ran away.

“Not cool, Stan!” Richie murmured, getting down from the cupboard, and immediately sought out his boyfriend, Bill on his tail. Eddie was up against the furthest wall, eyes wide and terrified, he looked so out of it that Richie became concerned for him. He’d never seen him look so petrified. “Eddie!” Richie began to reach out to him, “Eddie, you okay?”

Eddie nodded frantically, “I’m fi-",

Eddie was interrupted, Richie snatching his arm back in surprise, and dread washed over them all, as a gross, thick string of saliva drifted between the couple. They all looked up to where it was coming from, and for once they were not too happy to see Stan’s face, grinning unnervingly down at them, the drool hanging from his lips.

“Oh,” Richie wanted to laugh, “There he is.”

There was no time to even blink before the next thing they knew, the creepy Stan head had flung itself right into Richie’s face, digging its spider claws into his head. Richie was sent flying backwards, losing his balance as the creature tried to attack the comedian, snapping its jaws and gurgling. Bill yelled out, diving to try and get the thing off his friend, yanking on Stan’s head as hard as he could.

“Eddie!” he called, struggling to fight off the creature, as it clung to Richie, who was scrambling on the floor. “Eddie! Get the knife! There’s a knife!”

But Eddie, he had frozen up against the wall. It was like he’d zoned out completely, his fear taking control, keeping him grounded, and drowning out the screams of his boyfriend and friends. He had his eyes scrunched shut, his lips quivering, his body shaking, and he felt numb all over, it was even worse than having a full-blown panic attack. He couldn’t move, he literally couldn’t move, he felt sick, god he felt sick, who was that screaming? What was happening? _Please, please, please, no!_

“Eddie!” Bill yelled loudly, seeing said man glued to the wall, looking like he was lost in his own world, obviously petrified out of his mind. “Fuck! Eddie get the knife!”

“Get it off me!” Richie screeched, trying to pull the gross, sticky legs away. It was still trying to bite him, gnawing and growling centimetres from his face, disgusting slime like stuff dripping into his eyes. “Get it off!”

“Eddie!” 

“I want to go home!” Eddie muttered to himself, feeling his chest suddenly go tight and his legs going numb. “Please, please God, please, I just want to go home! Please!”

Bill pulled and pulled at the creature with everything he had, bellowing in frustration, as the thing wouldn’t give in. It was so close to getting to Richie, snapping its jaws, hungry for a bite. Then, out of nowhere, a knife went crunching through the monster’s skull, as it let out a curdling howl. Bill felt the thing go slightly limp in his hands, he looked up to see Ben beside him, his hand on the handle of the knife. 

Ben suddenly pulled it back out, and shoved it back into Stan’s head again, then continued to do so until the creature went even more floppy in Bill’s grip. As soon as it sagged completely, Bill ripped the thing off Richie’s head, and flung it all the way across the room, it landed with a loud smack by the door. Everyone froze, watching as it stood clumsily on its legs, letting out a deep snicker, as it shuffled off with a limp. The Losers could breathe again. 

“Is everyone okay?” Bev asked, as she got down to help Richie, who was coughing and sputtering from the gross gunk that got on his face from the Stan spider, groaning when his side began to hurt again. “Here.” She passed him his glasses that he’d lost in the process, helping him put them on, as he sat up slowly.

As she did this, Bill erupted. The group went silent in shock as Bill stumbled towards Eddie, losing himself and his control.

“He could have fucking died, man!” Bill yelled at the younger man, holding him by the scruff of his jacket, as Eddie looked anywhere but in his eyes. “G-georgie’s dead, th-that kid’s dead, Stan’s dead, you w-want Richie to be too?” he shouted, Mike trying desperately to calm him down and pull him away. “You want Richie dead too? Do you?”

Eddie shook his head rapidly, his bottom lip quivering as his eyes began to water. He’d snapped out of his trance as soon as Bill had shaken him out of it. “No!” He let out between gasps of breath, still feeling like he was on the brink of an anxiety attack, “No, no, no… Please I… I’m sorry…” he inhaled deeply, chest wheezing.

Bill breathed heavily, his expression softening as quick as it had turned angry, seeing the look of dread, of guilt, and sadness in Eddie’s face. He loosened his grip on the hypochondriac’s jacket, and took a step back.

“Please don’t be mad, Bill!” Eddie deflated, sobs leaving him as a few tears began to fall. He could still feel the chills run down his spine and his legs still shaking like a leaf. “I was s-scared.” He breathed out, trying to calm himself.

Bill felt the guilt of his words wash over him as he watched Eddie cry right in front of them, his fingers digging at the wall behind him, and fear still etched on his face, for a second he saw thirteen year old Eddie, screaming and crying in fear of the clown. He knew why he’d shouted and lost control, the face of Georgie plastered in his mind, of all those innocent children and people murdered by IT, the young boy he’d only just witnessed at the fair being brutally killed right in front of him, all that death. He’d had enough, he didn’t want to lose anyone else.

Suddenly, he felt like such an idiot. He should never had said those words to his friend, never had lashed out at him, when he knew how afraid Eddie was, how the terror of what was happening had gripped them all in different ways. Eddie had always been a fragile person, someone they all tried to look out for as children, he didn’t even want to be there, all he wanted was to go home and not feel so afraid anymore. Eddie didn’t deserve it, it wasn’t his fault.

Bill squeezed Eddie’s shoulder gently with his hand before stepping back. “T-That’s what IT wants, Eddie. He wants us to be scared.” he said calmly, his own eyes feeling damp. “Don’t… don’t give it to him.”

Eddie nodded, letting out a heavy gasp, not being able to control his sobbing anymore. Bill took a step forward again, ready to comfort Eddie, and to fully apologise to him for what he’d done, but was abruptly stopped as he felt a hand yank him back. Richie shoved him out of the way not so lightly, not looking impressed in the least.

“Jesus, fuck, Bill!” he practically growled at the other man, adrenaline still coursing through his body from the attack. “Take it easy! Don’t fucking talk to him like that!” he yelled, heart sinking as he heard Eddie let out a sniffle behind him. “You have _no_ right to say shit like that to him, you fucking hear me? You _know_ how terrified Eddie is of this bullshit! That was uncalled for you heartless prick!”

Bill felt even worse, not knowing what to say except, “Richie, I’m sorry.”

Richie didn’t want to listen, instead he turned to concentrate on his boyfriend who couldn’t even look him in the eye, immediately taking the smaller man in his arms.

“Hey,” Richie soothed him, as Eddie fell into his embrace, still sobbing. “Hey, shh, Eds, it’s okay.”

“I’m so sorry, Richie!” Eddie mumbled into the comedian’s shoulder, clinging to his jacket. “I’m so fucking sorry, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” he kept repeating.

“Eddie, it’s alright, shh now.” Richie said gently. He brushed a hand up and down Eddie’s back, trying his best to calm the younger man. It brought him back to when they were kids, how he used to hold Eddie just like this when he was upset, and they would stay like that for so long, until one of them got tired. “It’s okay, Eds, it’s okay to be scared.”

_January 1990_

_“I can’t do it, guys!”_

_The Losers (excluding Bev who’d already moved away) all turned in the dark room to look at Eddie, who, by their surprise, was fleeing towards the exit. Richie, who’d been sitting next to him looked at the others, who seemed as startled as he was, before he too got up and ran after the younger boy. As Richie made his way through the double doors of the cinema room, and out into the busy lobby of the building, he scanned the area to see where Eddie had gone, only to see him standing outside by the entrance._

_Richie quickly made his way out into the rain, essentially barging through the door. His heart sank as he approached the smaller boy, who was shaking like a leaf under the shelter of the alcove, as he took deep breaths from his inhaler, and scrubbed away the tears that were falling down his rosy cheeks._

_“Eds?” Richie called as gently as he could, slowly walking up to his best friend. “Hey, it’s alright.”_

_Eddie made eye contact, and felt embarrassment take over, but couldn’t help the fear that still coursed through him. “Go away, I’m fine.” He sniffed, turned slightly away from the other boy. “I don’t want your stupid jokes right now, Richie!”_

_“Hey!” Richie scoffed, almost offended. Although he wasn’t surprised, he did tend to joke around in these sorts of situations to try and make everyone feel better. “I’m not gonna make a joke, Eddie. Promise.”_

_Eddie let out a quiet sob, shoving his asthma pump back in his pocket, and wrapping his arms around himself. “Good.” He said, almost pitifully. He seemed so small and fragile just standing there, and what he asked next took Richie by surprise. “I… Can I have my hug now?”_

_Richie smiled sweetly at him, and nodded. “Sure, Eds.”_

_Eddie wasted no time in falling into Richie’s open arms, sighing loudly as the older boy wrapped his arms around him and held him close, he wasn’t even going to berate him for the stupid nickname for once. Eddie hugged him tight around the waist, hiding his face in Richie’s chest, smelling the faint hint of buttered popcorn._

_The two stood there for what seemed like hours, but only a couple of minutes went by. Richie didn’t let Eddie go, and Eddie didn’t want him to. Richie never pushed Eddie into telling him what was wrong, always waiting for him to feel better, and calm down before he’d tell him the problem. So, that’s exactly what Eddie did then._

_“I thought of Pennywise.” Eddie whispered, barely audible as he said it into Richie’s jacket._

_“That bitch of a clown?” Richie said, giving the smaller boy a tight squeeze. “Because of the movie?”_

_Eddie nodded, clutching to Richie’s coat even tighter. “I got scared.” He sobbed a little, thinking back to what he’d just seen on the screen, and instantly getting reminded of what the group had been through barely three months prior. “I was so fucking scared, Richie.”_

_“Shh now,” Richie fussed, running a hand through Eddie’s hair. “There’s nothing to be scared about, Eddie. I promise. You’re safe, especially with me around, I’m not going to let anything or anyone harm you.”_

_“I know.” Eddie sighed. “Just, everything reminds me of IT all the time.”_

_Richie nodded, completely understanding. It was hard to forget, especially during sleep where Pennywise would often still haunt them. “Hey,” Richie said, pulling back a little so he could look at Eddie, who blinked up at him with red, teary eyes. “What do you say we have a sleepover tonight, huh? All of us over at mine? I’m sure my folks wouldn’t mind.”_

_“Really?” Eddie sniffed, looking hopeful, but then remembering who exactly wouldn’t like that idea. “My mom might not approve of that idea.”_

_Richie snorted. “I’ll make her approve. She can’t resist the Tozier charm, my boy.” He grinned as Eddie rolled his eyes. He then got a little more serious whilst running a thumb across Eddie’s cheeks, clearing the tear stains. “Don’t worry, Eddie, I’ll get my mom to ring her. We can get lots of snacks, even your favourite ice cream, and watch some cartoons, and then we can all camp out downstairs.”_

_Eddie nodded, already looking forward to being with his friends, which always made him feel happier and less afraid of going to sleep. “Can I… Can I sleep in your sleeping bag again, like last time?”_

_Richie felt his tummy flutter at the question, but of course he wasn’t going to admit that out loud. “Of course, Eddie Spaghetti, that’s what boyfriends are for right?” he said in a teasing tone, smacking his lips against Eddie’s forehead._

_Eddie’s cheeks turned an even brighter red. “Shut up. And stop calling me that!”_

_Richie chuckled, pulling Eddie back into a hug, and holding on with all his strength. “Sure thing, Eddie.” He said with a smile, as Eddie clung back._

_“Richie?” Eddie said seconds later, as rain began to shower down even heavier than before._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Can we maybe not sneak into a horror movie ever again?”_

_Richie laughed softly, not surprised by the request. He had to admit, it was a stupid idea on his part to begin with. “Yeah, Eds. Let’s not do that again, huh?”_

_Eddie hummed in reply, and closed his eyes, feeling much better being held in Richie’s arms._

“Richie,” Eddie lifted his head from his partner’s shoulder, not letting go of the other man the slightest bit. “I really am sorry, I just… I don’t know what happened… I couldn’t move, I-,”

“Hey, hey,” Richie cut in, placing a hand on Eddie’s cheek that wasn’t hurt, rubbing his thumb across his tear marked skin. “You don’t have to be sorry, you hear me? It could have happened to any of us. It’s okay, sweetheart.”

“You could have _died_.” Eddie choked on the word, suddenly realising how close the other man was to being killed in that damn house, by that stupid clown, and he hadn’t done a damn thing to help. He clutched in Richie’s jacket until his knuckles turned white.

“But I didn’t.” Richie just said, seeing the realisation hit Eddie. “I’m fine, Eds. Hey, look at me.” Richie put his other hand on Eddie’s injured cheek, lifting his head so Eddie had no choice but to meet his gaze. “Everyone has their moments, yeah? Everyone. There’s nothing wrong with being scared. I’ve frozen up loads of times, on stage, at school, hell even when I tried to ask you to the dance when we were fourteen the first time, but it took me three days!”

Eddie laughed softly at that, remembering when Richie really had stood stock still in front of him in the school corridor more than once, before running off without an excuse.

“It’s okay,” Richie told him again, leaning down to kiss him gently on the forehead. “Please don’t feel like it’s your fault, alright? I’m alive, I’m still here, everything’s okay.”

Eddie nodded slowly, still feeling like absolute shit about what happened, but knew he couldn’t say or do anything to change it. He wiped away the wetness on his cheeks with the back of his sleeve, and shared a smile with Richie, who took his hand and entwined their fingers, holding on tight.

“You guys ready to go?” Mike asked them quietly, not wanting to impose on their moment.

Richie and Eddie looked across to see their friends standing near the door, having kept their distance to give the two space, except for Bill, who stood on the opposite side of the room. Richie gave Eddie a reassuring smile, giving his hand a quick squeeze, before the couple made their way over to their friends.

“Let’s carry on with this shit show then, huh.” Richie said, gesturing for Mike to lead the way.

He did, leaving the kitchen first to go left down the hall, and through the door to the basement. Ben followed after giving Eddie a hug, then Bev, who smiled sweetly at him and gave his arm a playful thump, both encouraging him that they were there if he needed them, understanding the fear that came with being in that place. That left Bill, who, before the pair could walk after Bev, called out to them softly.

“What?” Richie huffed, putting an arm around his boyfriend protectively. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough-,”

“Richie.” Eddie cut in, rubbing his thumb across the back of the other man’s hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“Look,” Bill started, “I sh-shouldn’t have done that, I-I lost control and I’m s-s-sorry! Eddie, I’m sorry.”

“Still shouldn’t have said what you said, man.” Richie said seriously, “Was fucked up.”

“I k-know,” Bill nodded, agreeing completely. “I regret it c-completely. I really a-am sorry. It’s my fault you’re h-here in the first place a-and I shouldn’t t-take my frustration out on anyone else.”

Eddie didn’t need to hear more, what Bill had said had hurt, but he knew he didn’t mean it. They were all scared, him even more, he couldn’t blame him for losing his tempter like he did. 

“It’s okay, Bill.” Eddie said to the older man, “I’m sorry too.”

The two friends shared a hug, Richie looking on off to the side, before Eddie gave him a look, and he knew exactly what it meant. Richie huffed, sticking his hand out to Bill.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, kind of not meaning it, since, well, he’d been an asshole to Eddie and he weren’t happy about it. 

Bill smiled, taking his hand to shake. “Me too, Richie.”

“Guys?” 

The trio heard Ben call them from the hall, thankfully he didn’t sound in distress. So, Richie let Eddie go first, as Bill held back for Richie to go right after, and the three joined the others down the hall, torches held at the ready. They could just about see the silhouette of Ben down the hall, waiting by the door of the basement, they hurriedly went to him, being weary of their surroundings. God knew what Pennywise had in store for them next after what they’d just witnessed. 

Once the Losers were back as a group, they began to descent the old, creaky steps into the chilly cellar, the only source of light coming from their torches. Everyone’s gaze landed on the stone well in the middle of the room right away, remembering the last time they’d been down there, one memory they’d rather forget. 

“Well, this seems awfully familiar.” Richie snorted as they cautiously walked to the stone well, gathering around it.

“A lot of memories.” Ben said, shining his torch along the edges of the brick wall, “Bad memories.”

The Losers took their places, not too close to the well, and not too far from one another, just encase. Richie kept Eddie close, as Bill and Mike stepped nearer to the deep hole in the ground, being ever cautious, knowing there might be a chance of something not so friendly popping out like a jack in the box. The two shared a look, nodding, before slowly raising their torches to shine inside the black cavern, then leaning over the edge rather slow to take a look inside.

It was just as pitch black, never-ending, and super scary as it had been when they were kids. The green mould still grew out of every crook of the wall, strange, black goo that Pennywise seemed to favour, running down its sides. And a few feet down they could make out the hole, the hole in its side that led them straight to the tunnels of the sewers. 

“Seems clear,” Mike said quietly, “Do you think the rope will still hold?” he asked Bill, giving the rope that hung from the hook in the ceiling a tug.

“Yeah,” Bill hummed, hoping he wasn’t wrong. “I think we'll be alright taking turns.”

Mike nodded, the two turning back to their friends, who were waiting in silence, waiting for instructions on what to do next. Bill looked at each of his friends, giving them all a reassuring smile, hoping it would bring them some comfort for what they were about to do. He coughed into his hand in nervousness, and addressed them all. This was it.

“Okay,” he began, “W-We’ll take it in turns, one at a t-time this time, just encase. I’ll go f-first and wait in the tunnel for the next person, and whoever’s last n-needs to be careful, keep an eye out for unwanted visitors.”

“Yeah, we don’t want a repeat from last time.” Mike said as he remembered Bowers attacking him, having been so close to actually killing him on the floor of that basement. The others nodded in agreement.

“Don’t worry,” Richie shrugged, “Bowers is pretty dead on the floor of the library with a big hole in his head, so...”

The others couldn’t help but laugh, mostly out of nerves. “Still got Pennywise on our tail, Richie.” Bev smiled at the comedian, nudging his arm.

“That’s why we have to k-keep an eye out,” Bill continued, turning to the well to lay his torch on its side. “Alright,” he said, as he hoisted himself up onto the wall, reaching across to grab onto the thick rope. “Let’s g-get this over with.” 

Bill was over the side of the well before anyone could say anything, literally wanting to get this over with, he made sure to get a good grip on the rope, as he hung on with a death grip and carefully began lowering himself down. Mike held on for support at the top of the rope, holding a light down into the darkness.

“All good, Bill?” Mike called, as Bill got halfway down.

“Yeah,” Bill said back, voice echoing off the stone wall. “S-still smells bad down here.”

The Losers laughed, “Spray some air freshener while your down there.” Richie said, shrugging at Eddie who snorted beside him. 

“Okay,” Mike said then, as he saw Bill not so gracefully step into the small tunnel halfway down the well, he signalled with a thumbs up, staying in place. “Who’s next? Bev?” 

Bev nodded, taking seconds to get up onto the wall and make her way down the rope, eager to get going. Ben went next, and took his time, forgetting how deep down the tunnel had been as he went down and down for what felt like way too long. That left Mike with Richie and Eddie, the comedian insisting that Mike go next, as he held the torch over the side for some light. Eddie was next to last, feeling more anxious than he was as a kid, knowing it wouldn’t be so easy now that he was twice the size, although this time he didn’t have a broken arm to work around which he was more than grateful for.

“You’ll be alright, Eddie.” Richie assured him, as he helped him climb up the well and dangle his legs in the middle, hands grabbing the rope like his life depended on it.

“Be careful, Rich.” Eddie said to the older man, “You’ll come straight down once I’m in the tunnels yeah?”

Richie smiled at his boyfriend, “I’ll be right behind you,” he said with a cheeky wink, leaning across to kiss Eddie soundly on the lips. “I promise.”

Eddie rolled his eyes at the silly innuendo, but smiled sweetly at the older man, “I’ll hold you to it, Fuckface.” 

“You bet, dickhead.” Richie grinned.

Giving his boyfriend one last kiss for the moment, Eddie steadily, and carefully began to move down the rope, seeing Bill waiting down below in the tunnel. Richie watched him go, and once he got safely to the tunnel he then started to climb up the well himself, preparing to go down. The comedian took one last scan of the room, before grabbing onto the rope, and swinging himself over, cringing at the slight pain in his side. But he pushed the pain to the back of his head, clutched in his torch, and sensibly, Richie descended the rope to join the others, hoping to God IT didn’t have any other surprises up his sleeve. But he knew that that would be too much to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Eddie's my man, dudes. He's always been my favourite, especially adult Eddie. When I saw Bill being a bitch to him in that scene watching the movie, boy did I lose my shit. I was not happy. I actually hated Bill at that moment, I get that he snapped, but jesus, he could have said sorry, especially when he knows how afraid and anxious Eddie gets! So, of course I had to write Richie giving Bill what's what, because, well, Bill deserved to get a good slap. And anyway, the scene in the movie cut off before it showed Richie's reaction, and I'm 100% certain Richie would have stuck up for Eddie. Anyway... 
> 
> #eddiedeservedbetter


	8. The Sewers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit long, and I tried to make it as good as I could since my English story writing is rubbish :P but I hope you like it none the less. Thanks for reading dudes <3

The Losers could just about still fit inside the small tunnel in the middle of the well, leading them into the sewers. They crawled on their hands and knees through the rusty pipe, for a few metres, before they came to the end, one by one they jumped into one of many of the main tunnels. The black, stinking water almost rose to their knees, seeping through their shoes. 

Carefully, and trying not to send themselves flying into the sewage, the group of friends walked on, trying to remember the correct way to get to where they’d been as kids. After winding through more small, short pipes, they came to another main tunnel, and as they all lowered themselves into the mucky water (this time the water really was above their knees) they decided on turning left. Mike led them down the wide, dark cave, as a familiar view came into sight.

The Losers pushed their way through the water, getting closer to the next area, through the round, metal entrance. As they approached, they all stopped, peeking inside the humongous sewer. 

“This is it,” Ben said, “This is where it happened last time.”

And he was right. It was the exact big, creepy place they’d fought Pennywise twenty-seven years ago. They could tell by the huge, long tunnel that stretched high up into the sky, the tunnel that last time had children’s dead bodies floating around and around in mid-air, their toys, clothing, bikes, anything that belonged to them stacked high into a mound below. Now, that mound was mostly underwater, as the sewage water had covered the entire room, and instead of the children flying through the air, their skulls and bones had joined the pile of stuff below. 

“Where do we go?” Bev asked Mike, as he tested the depth of the water with his leg. 

“Up there,” Mike said, pointing to the embankment of children’s toys and skeletons. “there has to be a way up there.”

With that said, Mike carefully lowered himself into the dirty water, holding his breath as he went further in. Luckily, it only reached just over his waistline, which was bad enough. “Come on.” He told the others, putting a hand out to help Bev climb in. 

They each went into the deep water cautiously, slowly making their way through it, over to the island in the middle of the room. Eddie came last, hesitating by the entryway.

“I’ve got you.” Richie held his arms out, seeing the hesitation in his face. “Ready?”

Eddie nodded, biting his lip nervously as he carefully took a step in, Richie wrapping his arm around his waist to help lower him down. Eddie cringed as he was now covered almost all the way up to his chest, a million different diseases he could possibly catch running around in his head. 

“You okay, short ass?” Richie grinned, seeing the uncomfortable expression on his boyfriend’s face. “Want me to give you a piggyback?’ 

Eddie snorted, shoving him gently, “Shut up, and get a move on, before I throw up on you.”

Richie chuckled, kissing the top of his head noisily, and doing as his boyfriend said. Eddie rolled his eyes at him, smiling a little as Richie turned his back to him and followed the others through the water. He too made his way across with smaller, slower steps, hoping there was nothing underneath he’d end up tripping over. The hypochondriac almost gagged when an old, mouldy teddy bear floated right past him, he flung his hands in the air to avoid it, watching its every move as it passed on by. 

“Gross!” Eddie mumbled, keeping his hands where they were.

He wanted to get the hell out of that horrible, nasty water as quickly as possible. Bill was just getting out and hoisting himself onto the mound, Richie close behind, when Eddie felt something touch him lightly on the leg. He spun around in surprise, wondering if he was imagining things as there was nothing there, praying it was just some item from the pile of toys. The water was too dark to even be able to see, which made it even more terrifying.

“Eddie?” 

Ben called from on top of the island, making everyone turn to the man furthest away in the water. 

Richie stopped just as he got to the edge of the mound, looking over at his boyfriend in worry. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Eddie hummed, “I uh... it’s nothing.” He said, not wanting to spook them even further. It was bad enough he was about to pass out from sheer fear.

“Did you guys hear that?” Bev then said suddenly, making everyone freeze.

They listened closely, trying to tune out the echoing drips of water off in the distance, the soft swishing of the water, and the distant chirping of birds above them. Bev could have sworn she’d heard something, like a whisper, barely audible, but definitely there. She was about to shake it off and tell them it was a false alarm, until the Losers all heard exactly what she was talking about. 

_“Your time"_

A look of alarm and outright panic washed over their faces at the sound of a croaky voice whispering, echoing over the walls of the sewer, just barely there. The blood drained from Eddie’s face as he heard another one, so close it made him jump.

“ _Your time"_

It said the same thing, as the Losers prepared for the worst. Then, the voice said something that made Eddie want to cry, and wish he’d stayed well away from this damn sewer.

_“Time to float, Eddie.”_

All eyes were on him as his name was heard, and Eddie’s gaze met Richies. The comedian went as pale as he was, “Eddie!” he yelled, about to grab for him. “Get over here!”

But it was too late. Right after Richie had shouted after him, something burst through the surface of the water right in front of him, and Eddie gasped, almost falling back into the dark depths. And of course, there it was, the leper, his old friend who he’d almost beaten back at the pharmacy. The creature grinned disgustingly down at him, and within seconds it was behind Eddie, seizing him by the throat. 

“Eddie!” Richie screamed, as the Losers did the same.

But the leper was too fast for Richie, “Beep beep Richie!” it snickered, as the comedian began to race towards them, panic setting in. “Say goodbye!”

Eddie didn’t have time to take a breath as he was yanked underwater by the throat, the leper dragging him down with barely any effort. He began to panic and struggle as he reached the bottom of the depths, being kept there by the startling hold of the leper, who now had two hands grasping his throat. Eddie could feel the burn in his chest, the sting in his eyes, he couldn’t breathe, it hurt, it felt like he was going to die any minute. The leper was literally squeezing the life out of him.

But then, the weight was lifted from his throat and the leper vanished just like that, and he was free, but felt so weak and disorientated. He could just about see blurs of black swimming around him, and orbs of lights shifting from one spot to another. Then a pair of arms wound around his waist, and Eddie held onto that person for dear life, as he was lifted up and up through the murky water. 

As he broke the surface of the water, Eddie inhaled a sharp breath, taking in all the air he could. He gasped and coughed harshly, clinging to the man who held him.

“Breath, Eddie, breathe!”

Of course it was Richie who held him in his embrace, as the other men gathered around them like a protective barrier, Bev waiting edgily on the island. Eddie gave off a few more coughs, his lungs feeling like they were on fire.

“You’re okay,” Richie said to him, holding him close as he hurriedly hauled him to the mound. “You’re okay.” He kept repeating, mostly to remind himself that Eddie was alright, that he was still there. That he’d saved him.

With Bills help Richie was able to hoist a dazed Eddie to sit on the edge of the mountain of toys and skulls, instantly pulling him back into his arms as he sat beside him, the other Losers standing close by just encase some other creature decided to make an appearance, but giving them enough space to take a breather. 

“Okay?” Richie asked Eddie as he coughed a bit more, fumbling for his inhaler.

Eddie nodded frantically, hands shaking as he pulled the inhaler from his pocket, “I can’t do this... I... fuck, I can’t do this, Richie!”

“Hey!” Richie snatched the asthma pump from his boyfriend’s hand, and held it away from him. Eddie stared at him like he’d been slapped, “You don’t need that!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eddie gasped between breaths, panicking even more after having his damn lifeline taken from him. “Give that back, asshole!”

“No!” Richie held it above his head as Eddie tried reaching for it, and he shone his torch in his eyes to keep him away, which, worked like a charm. “You don’t need this shit anymore!”

“Yes I do!” Eddie whined, trying desperately to breathe.

“Hey, look at me!” Richie said seriously, grabbing both sides of Eddie’s face and making him look him in the eyes. “Breathe, Eddie. Come on. You can do it, I know you can. Deep breaths, just like I taught you when we were kids.”

Eddie whimpered as Richie touched their foreheads, shutting his eyes to try and gain more composure, blocking out the sounds of the Losers behind them, talking to one another in hushed voices. He did as Richie told him, remembering the technique he’d used a couple of times when there was no inhaler to use. Deep breaths, in an out, count to three in your head. Eddie did just that, inhaling deeply, and exhaling slowly, relaxing under the soft touches of Richie’s thumb running in circles around his cheeks. 

“There you go,” Richie said quietly, “Told you you could do it.”

Eddie took another deep breath, “I can’t... Jesus Rich, I don’t think I can go any further, man!”

“Eddie,” Richie lifted his head, making the other man open his eyes to look at him. “You can, you can do this, dude. You won’t be alone, I’m going to be there with you the whole step of the way okay? We’ve gotten this far, right?”

Eddie nodded, “Yeah.” He croaked, knowing Richie was right. 

“You stuck up to your mom before you got here, you pulled a fucking _knife_ out of your own face to _stab_ Bowers, and you’ve carried on no matter what, you’ve come this far Eddie.” Richie said in all seriousness, leaning forward to kiss his boyfriend soundly on the lips. “You’re braver than you think.”

Eddie smiled slightly, once again, Richie surprised him by being right, and being completely serious. Eddie _had_ done all those things, things he’d never imagine doing, ever. And here he was, after all his mistakes and fuck ups, he was still standing, and in the sewers no less. 

“Thanks, Richie.” He said to his other half, genuinely grateful for the older man’s words. 

“You’re welcome, Eds.” Richie smiled cheerfully, bopping him on the nose.

Eddie glared, but that didn’t faze Richie, as usual. He grinned, giving Eddie another tap on the nose, before his hand was hit away.

“Guys,” Ben called to them then, waving them over. “Come see this.”

Richie quickly got to his feet, helping Eddie to stand, legs still slightly wobbly. Putting an arm around his waist he kept him upright, as they both joined Ben, Bev and Bill in the middle of the island, noticing its top was just a load of wood panels, like the deck of an old pirate ship. In the middle of the flooring there was a round hole, big enough to fit one person, the lid to it already flipped open. Then, Eddie noticed something.

“Where’s Mike?”

Bill pointed down the shaft. Eddie and Richie leaned over to peer down, and lo and behold, Mike was down there, looking up at them with a smile.

“Uh...” Richie began, “Pretty sure we didn’t go down a scary looking pipe last time, Mike.”

“Where does that lead to?” Eddie asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

“He doesn’t know.” Bill answered, which, really, that was worse than knowing. “Guess we'll have to find out.”

“Oh, great.” Richie snorted, just as Bill prepared to just jump into the hole of mystery. “Good thing I’m a pro at climbing, huh?”

Bill didn’t hesitate to practically fling himself into the dark hole, already making his way down behind Mike, calling out to whoever was going in next. That happened to be Ben, who went in just as quick as Bill. They’d obviously had some practice in rock climbing. Bev was going in after Ben, making her way around to Eddie first, and holding out the iron bar she’d taken from the gate of the house. 

“Here,” she said, smiling reassuringly at Eddie. “this kills monsters, if you believe it does.”

Eddie took the iron rod from her, holding it tight in his grip. “Thanks, Bev.”

She smiled once more at her friend, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly, before making her way down the tunnel after Ben. Next was Eddie’s turn, who almost hesitated again as he sat down by the entrance to the tunnel, peeking down to see the others making their way deeper and deeper inside. Richie kneeled beside him, rubbing his back for comfort.

“You got this, Spaghetti Man.”

Eddie elbowed him, “I will throw you down this hole, you big turd.”

Richie grinned, “Would be a lot faster.”

Eddie just rolled his eyes, and stole a quick kiss from the older man. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Love you too.” Richie said, with the goofiest smile on his face, his mood lifted just a tad from their banter. 

Eddie too felt a lot better after what had happened seconds ago, although he was about to shit his pants as he stepped down into the hole, grounding his feet against the rocks on either side. The only thing that kept him going was the feel of Richie’s hand on his back, guiding him carefully further down the pits of hell, urging him on with comforting words.

He suddenly felt stupidly claustrophobic once his whole body was inside the narrow pipe, it just about had enough space to fit him and the others, and it wasn’t exactly easy try to climb down wet, slippery rocks. Eddie took his time, looking down once in a while to see where it ended, Bev’s silhouette just metres below, her torchlight helping him see his way. It felt like forever until he’d reached the bottom, and when he did he almost went flying, his foot slipping off a rock at the end, Ben and Bill there to catch him before he went head first into a wall. 

He sighed, as he righted himself, thanking his friends who patted him on the shoulders. Eddie glanced around the area they’d climbed down into, not much to see except a load of walls, walls and more black, wet walls. The only way out was where Mike was headed, a tiny gap in one of the walls, up a slight slope.

“This way!” Mike said, as he saw Richie jump from the tunnel, everyone present. “Come on.”

“Can we fit?” Bev asked, just as Mike answered the question by squeezing himself through the gap, not so gracefully arriving at the other end. 

“That answers that.” Richie shrugged, “Suck it in, Losers.”

And so they did. One by one they squeezed themselves through the small gap, coming out the other end to another slope, practically a slide. And as everyone gathered and made their way further in, they held their torches high, trying to work out where exactly they’d ended up. 

Pits of hell really would have been the best description. Just like where they’d fought IT the last time, it was a humongous cave, with a never-ending ceiling, reaching up into nothing but darkness. The floors were slippery and covered in muck, the walls dripping with black goo, and then there were the unusually shaped rocks sticking from the ground. They were like splashes of thin rock, bursting from the floor, winding all around the middle where a gigantic circle of stone stood. That thing looked like a big claw reaching out of the ground, its fingers standing at least six feet tall. Nobody mentioned the droplets of blood floating up off the stone like reverse rain, or the skulls and bones that were scattered under their feet.

“So,” Eddie said, looking around in awe. “All of this has been here, under Derry, this whole time?”

Mike nodded, “A few million years.”

The group dodged the tall, bits of rocks, and made their way to the claw like stage. Carefully, they slipped through the high pillars and into the centre, where a part of the floor had risen into what looked like a small, round slab. They surrounded it as Mike got down on his knees, hefting his bag off his shoulder and taking out what looked to be a triangular shaped pot, made from leather, with strange engravings embedded around it. Mike placed it in the middle of the block, and sat back.

“IT can only be attacked in its true form,” Mike said to the others, “The ritual will show us that.”

Ben frowned, “What is its true form?”

“I hope it’s a little puppy,” Richie shrugged, because well, that would be a nice change. “Pomeranian, I like those.” The others didn’t seem to find it funny, not even Eddie who sighed beside him. Richie hummed, “Okay, I’ll shut up.”

Mike seemed to have ignored him anyway, too focused on the weird, leather thing sitting on the little mound. Everyone watched him in wonderment as he pulled out some lighter fluid from his backpack, pouring plenty inside the pot, before grabbing a matchstick, setting it on fire, and tossing it in. A big flame exploded from inside, bringing some light into the dark cavern.

“Alright, get your artefacts.” Mike told his friends, as they each muddled around in their pockets to retrieve them. “We must toss them into the fire, the past must burn with the present.”

Each member of the Losers club held onto their tokens, ready to burn them in the fire, ready to be rid of the past once and for all. Bill stepped forward first, holding up the old, stained paper boat, S.S Georgie fading on its side.

“This is the boat G-Georgie and I b-built.” he said, giving it one last glance over, before quickly dropping it into the flames. He felt his eyes water, hands shake, but knew it had to be done.

Bev held her postcard against her chest, sharing a smile with Ben. “Something I wish I’d held onto.” She said, tossing it into the pot with Georgie’s boat.

“This is uh, it’s a page from my yearbook,” Ben told them, as he opened a folded-up piece of paper, and read over the name Beverly Marsh, signed off with three hearts. “It’s only signed by one person but uh, I kept it this whole time.”

Bev gazed at the man in surprise, as he hesitantly put the paper to the flames, letting it slip into the pot and burn with the other items. Next Mike pulled out a rock from his back pocket, holding it out for everyone to see.

“Look, Bev,” Mike smiled at the woman, showing her the rock. “That’s where you hit Bowers, right on the head.”

“The rock fight.” Bev grinned, remembering the perfect shot she’d taken with it.

“When our bonds were formed.” Mike nodded. He chucked it into the fire, and it let off a sizzle. “Eddie?”

Eddie held out his asthma pump, “My inhaler.” He said, sighing. Putting it to his lips he took one last inhale of the stuff.

“Dude, come on.” Richie grumbled next to him, yanking it away from his mouth. “Get rid of that thing.”

Eddie glowered at his boyfriend, pulling his hand away. But he did as he was told, because, Richie wanted it gone as much as he did. It was about time he stood on his own two feet, and didn’t have to rely on the damn bit of plastic to help him breathe. He didn’t need it anymore. Eddie hurriedly threw it into the fire too, kind of feeling a bit of weight lift off his shoulders. Richie nudged him with his shoulder, smiling down at him proudly.

The comedian then held up his own artefact, the silver coin. “Token from the arcade,” he said with a shrug, flicking it into the flames.

“The token?” Eddie said to him. “From Street Fighter?”

Richie nodded, “That’s the one.”

Eddie hummed, “I miss those slushies.” He said, “Also, that shit’s going to take forever to burn, man.”

“So’s your inhaler, dumbass.” Richie snorted. “Full of fumes and stuff.”

Eddie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, wait!” he’d completely forgotten about the final artefact, sitting in his trouser pocket since that morning. “Can’t forget Stan.” Eddie pulled out the shower cap, and added it to the other burning items, everyone smiling at their friend’s memory.

And that was that. A faint smell of plastic and paper wafted through the air as the items melted in the fire, the flames flickering once in a while. Mike nodded, satisfied with the first half of the ritual, but knew that wasn’t enough.

“Alright,” he said, holding his hands out to the side. “Everyone hold hands.”

The Losers did as he’d instructed, clasping their hands together to form a circle around the jar. Eddie held onto Richie’s land like a lifeline, and Richie did the same, sharing a look that promised if anything happened they wouldn’t leave each other’s sides. Then everyone looked at one another, encouraging each other, showing they were ready for whatever was to come next.

“Okay,” Mike began, gazing down at the blaze. “The ritual of Chud, is a battle of wills. We’ve been reunited, we’ve got our tokens, now, this is the final step.”

As soon as those words passed Mike’s lips, the fire suddenly went out. Mike looked as confused as the rest of the Losers, which couldn’t have been good. Which it wasn’t, because seconds later a loud clattering noise came from above, making them all look up. A passage had opened up right above them, at the end of the never-ending tunnel, and weirdly, some three glowing orbs started to drift down straight towards them. Once they’d lit up the ceiling, they soon came to realise that the entire cavern was moving, and what looked like teeth were protruding out of the walls.

“W-what the _fuck_ is that?” Bill gasped, saying what they were all thinking.

“Don’t look at them!” Mike warned, “It’s the deadlights, don’t look!”

Everyone instantly diverted their gazes, suddenly feeling petrified beyond belief, clinging to each other’s hands desperately. Mike shut his eyes against the glow, as he started chanting out loud.

“Turn light into dark!” He said, “Turn light into dark!”

The Losers copied him by closing their eyes, realising it wouldn’t be great if they’d stare into the lights. “Say it!” Mike yelled at them, making them all jump. “Say it with me, turn light into dark!”

So they did. Yelling as loudly as they could, the Losers club repeated Mike’s words over and over, keeping their eyes tight shut, not letting go of one another’s hands. As they shouted and practically screamed the chant, they could feel the hot air of the lights growing nearer, the light almost blinding even through their eyelids. It was like a strong gust of wind was passing by, swaying them back and forth, as they all tried to keep as still as possible.

“Mike, what the hell’s happening?” Richie shouted over the others, and a deafening buzzing sound coming from above.

“Keep chanting!” Mike said in frustration, hoping to God this was working. He didn’t want to open his eyes, but knew if he did it would be over for him.

Luckily, the others listened, and continued to shout at the top of their voices. They had to, once the lights were right in front of them, in the middle of their circle. Every one of them could feel the hot breath of the things brushing against their skin, pushing against their bodies, like it were forcing them back, trying to fight back. And the light, that was pretty intense. Nobody could imagine what it could do to their eyes if they opened them at that minute.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the light suddenly grew dimmer and dimmer, giving Mike his opportunity to dive into action. He opened his eyes first, noticing the glowing spheres had slipped into the leather case, so he hurriedly opened his bag and pulled out the last thing inside, the lid. Diving forward, Mike slammed the lid on top of the pot, and waited.

The group went silent, letting their hands fall to their sides as they looked on. Eddie kept his held in Richies, too afraid to let go. They held their breaths. But, it turned out it wasn’t going to be that easy. Mike struggled to keep the lid on as a red balloon started to push its way out, nowhere near bursting, as it continued to inflate and escape its case.

“Mike?” Richie said, looking just as disarrayed as the others. “What’s going on?”

“Is this meant to be happening?” Ben asked.

“Just keep chanting!” Mike yelled in frustration, he had no idea what was going on, and wasn’t about to tell everyone that. “Don’t stop!”

The group began chanting the same phrase once again, some of them holding back in fear, Bill spurring them on as he too got irritated as the balloon grew bigger and bigger. He yelled and growled out over their frantic chanting, as Mike struggled to keep the lid from holding the balloon inside, and then it was overflowing over the sides, like a blob of blubber.

“Mike! It’s not working!” Bev screamed.

“What the fuck!” Eddie cried in terror.

“What is that?” Ben yelled.

And the balloon just kept growing. The Losers knew then that their mantra wasn’t working, each of them shutting up and stepping further away from it, almost being pushed out of the giant claw in the ground.

“It’s gonna blow!” Richie piped, almost shoving Eddie away and out of the enclosure.

“Go, go!” Bill bellowed.

The crew scattered like flies, practically diving in their haste to get out of there, as the balloon was almost centimetres from them. Richie held onto Eddie’s hand in a death grip, wanting to keep him close no matter what, but then, the balloon grew so big it pushed against the sharp rock and went bang. It burst like a bomb had gone off, sending the Losers into the air to land roughly in the dirt, and it let off such an ear-splitting noise, the only thing they could hear was a high-pitched hum.

Richie groaned as he lay face-first in the ground, pushing himself up onto his knees, and rubbing his head that had a million drums pounding in his skull. He could just about hear his friends shouting and moving around, and see the flashes of their torches through the scuff of dirt on his glasses, then he tried to make out the shape of Eddie, just as the younger man let out a pained moan somewhere nearby.

“Eddie?” Richie called, seeking him out. “Eds?” he soon found him, metres away somehow, just getting up off the floor, “Eddie, hey!”

Eddie rasped in protest as Richie looked him over, touching his arms, his chest, his back, grabbing him either side of his face to check that his injury was okay. “Did we do it?” Eddie asked, as everyone came closer together, knowing it would be wise to do so.

“Fucking hope so!” Richie sighed, satisfied that Eddie was fine, but continuing to hold him close.

“The tokens, did they work?” Ben questioned, everyone looking at Mike. “Mike?”

“Is it over?” Bev asked hopefully. She gave her torch a good thwack, the light flickering back on.

But when she shone it up high, the light landing between a gap of the tall, sharp rock, they all got a nasty surprise. Pennywise’s face popped into view, as he let out a short yelp, laughing joyously as the Losers began to freak out and realise it wasn’t over yet.

“Oh, did it work, Mikey?” It teased, “Did it?” he laughed again. “Why don’t you tell them, hm?”

They all looked over at Mike in confusion, wondering if this was just another one of the clown’s mind-fucks, if he was once again trying to play with them, wring out all their fear. But Mike couldn’t answer, he didn’t know how, so Pennywise carried on, grinning gleefully as he peered down at them.

“Why don’t you tell them?” he said, “Tell them it’s all just a… what’s the word, Eds? Gazebo?”

Eddie frowned, “Mike, what’s he talking about?”

“Yeah, Mike, what the fuck is going on?” Richie hissed.

“Oh, come on now, Mikey.” Pennywise spat through his teeth, drool dribbling disgustingly from his blood-red lips. “Tell them what happened to the poor tribe that tried this silly little game the first time? Mmm yum, yum, yum. They tasted so good!”

The Losers all gazed over at Mike, who couldn’t have looked more guilty than he did at that moment. “Mike, you lied to us _again_!” Bill seethed.

“Th-they didn’t believe!” Mike stuttered, “They didn’t believe they could kill It, that’s why it didn’t work then!”

Richie couldn’t believe this. He couldn’t believe this bullshit was happening again. “Are you fucking kidding me, Mike?” he shouted in disbelief.

“All of that for _nothing_?” Bill looked at him in such disappointment, after everything he’d done already, and now this to top it all off.

“I’m sorry!” Mike said genuinely. He really thought it would work, bringing the Losers back together to bring It down. But he’d been wrong. “I’m sorry guys, I’m sorry!”

“We shouldn’t even be here!” Eddie yelped, another panic attack on the horizon.

“How could you, Mike?” Bev barely whispered.

Mike shook his head and closed his eyes, wishing this was all a stupid dream.

“Oh, I know something that will cheer you up!” Pennywise suddenly screeched, laughing hysterically, like he was planning something cagy. “Why don’t we play a game?” he said with a deep rumble in his voice, a wide, creepy grin stretching across his face. “I love games.”

And that’s when the Losers club knew they weren’t going to get out of there as easy as they’d hoped. Pennywise, all of a sudden, began to grow. It was like he was being raised up on a platform, slowly getting taller, arms and legs expanding like some gigantic spider. The group tentatively took small steps back, never taking their eyes off the disforming creature, as he became bigger than the claw enclosure he was inside. As that happened, black smoke shot out from the jar they’d used for the ritual, bursting into a big puff of dust, three balls of white light firing into the air and illuminating the cave.

“The deadlights!” Eddie warned, “Don’t look at them!” he said dreadfully, because he knew all too well what they did.

The group either closed their eyes or averted them, watching as Pennywise chortled mischievously. Everyone gasped and yelped as the now half-clown half-giant spider jumped out from between the high stones, faltering on its gangly legs and rising to its full height just metres in front of them.

“I’ve missed you,” Pennywise whined, tilting his head, and pouting like a little child. “I’ve _craved_ you! And now I want to _play_!”

They each looked on in horror as Pennywise lifted its long arm, and its end began to take shape of a dozen human hands all cramped together, then as quick as a flash of light, a huge, sharp blade took their place. Every one of them back-pedalled as the clown took its aim. But Mike, he was still standing in the same spot, his eyes shut tight as he mumbled to himself, like he was waiting for the hit.

“Mike!” Eddie called, as Richie grabbed him and started pulling him away.

“Mike move!” Ben called, doing the same to Bev as Pennywise’s grim smile reached his eyes.

Mike wasn’t budging. He was the perfect target as the clown swung his arm down, the blade aiming right for the man’s head. Inches before it could get him, Bill charged for his friend, knocking him to the ground to safety. The blade barely missed Bill as they fell, instead, it struck the rock next to them, sending stone and dust flying.

Pennywise gave out a booming, maniacal laugh. “Let’s play!” he squealed.

And before the Losers knew it, the monster was chasing after them, chuckling and howling in glee. Everyone sprinted, running over uneven ground, dust and dirt flinging into the air, as they tried to outrun the gigantic alien that was right on their tail. Unfortunately for them, in their hurry to get away from certain death, the Losers were split up and went in different directions.

Richie and Eddie were practically stuck at the hip, the comedian clutching in Eddie’s jacket from behind and propelling him forward, yelling frantically to keep him going. Deafening bangs and crashes sounded from right behind them, spurring them on to get the hell out of dodge.

“Eddie, over there!” Richie told the younger man, as they came to an opening in one of the cave walls, yanking him over like he weighed nothing.

Eddie went tumbling into the hiding place, gasping as he fell back into the nearest wall, too out of breath to carry on. Richie made sure his boyfriend was still functioning, before turning back around to check on where the clown had gone too. Luckily for them two, Pennywise was preoccupied with the other Losers, digging its claws into the ground and snarling at whoever was pissing him off.

“Fuck.” Richie mumbled, watching the scene unfold.

“What’s it doing?” Eddie asked, almost giving his other half a heart attack as he popped up behind him. “Is he still there?”

“He’s pre-occupied.”

Eddie’s eyes widened as someone screamed nearby, and It laughed manically looking around as if in search of something. “Can It see us?”

“Nah,” Richie said positively, as they were covered just a tad by a stone wall. “We’re good.”

As a matter of fact, they weren’t good. Richie and Eddie froze as Pennywise suddenly spun his head around to look right at them, its scary, toothy mouth opening in a weird smile.

“Oh shit.” Richie breathed.

Next thing they knew, the clown was heading right for them. Richie and Eddie screamed as it raced over, the two hurriedly turning around and making their way into the dark, creepy looking cave. The couple ran and ran further and further inside, the walls so close together it felt suffocating, which didn’t help Eddie one bit. It also didn’t help that Pennywise’s long, gross arm was extending all the way in, chasing after them. As the tunnel came to an end, Richie paused abruptly, stopping Eddie in his tracks. Thankfully, the clown couldn’t reach any further.

“Oh, for fuck sake.” Richie huffed, as the two took in the three old, dirty doors that lined up against the back of the cave, each one with words spelt out in blood. One read: not scary at all, the other: scary, the last: very scary. “Not this shit again!”

Richie remembered this stupid trick Pennywise had conjured when they’d first stepped foot in Neibolt. Him and Bill hearing Eddie screaming down below as they were trapped on the top floor of the house, trying to escape through those exact doors.

Richie and Eddie shone their torches on each one, back and forth, trying to decided which one was the right one. They didn’t exactly want to go through any of them. Eddie though, he was swinging more towards the ‘not scary at all’ entrance.

“That one!” he said, about to head straight for it before Richie quickly grabbed him.

“No!” Richie said, “He’s- he’s switched them around! He’s fucking with us!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Richie grasped Eddie by the wrist and tugged him over, “Trust me!”

They made their way to the door that read ‘very scary’, the comedian hesitating as he put his hand on the knob, and took a deep breath, Eddie standing close behind. With one swift pull, Richie opened the door, the hinges creaking.

“Huh?” Richie frowned, looking into nothing but pitch blackness, the only thing inside was a piece of string dangling from the ceiling.

Out of nowhere they heard a whisper of a girl’s voice, not quite catching what she’d said. Richie uncertainly reaching for the cord, hoping the freaky girl from one of those horror movies wouldn’t jump out at him, he hated those films. He felt relief when he switched on the light once he’d yanked the cord, revealing a closet, with a few pieces of clothing hanging up.

It didn’t seem so bad. There was even a hoover and some boxes, which wasn’t exactly scary. But, with his luck, it wasn’t going to stay that way. Oh no, it couldn’t just simply stay as a closet full of junk and old outfits, no, there just had to be a spooky girl’s laugh coming from the gap in between the clothes, were nothing but darkness stared back at them. To top it all off, the laugh was followed by the sound of resounding footsteps, accompanied by a pair of legs skipping towards them, the rest of the body sliced off from the waist up. Richie and Eddie screamed loudly from the unwanted surprise.

“Oh fuck!” Richie yelled, slamming the door shut as quickly as possible.

“Richie, you told me to trust you, you moron!” Eddie shouted as they stepped away frantically from the door, and jumped away from Pennywise’s weird ass claw thingy that snapped at them.

“I know, I know!” Richie said, feeling just a tad bit guilty about that one. Oops. “Let’s go to not scary at all!”

“Okay!” Eddie nodded, already on it. Between the weird, claw thingy and the actual pair of legs, he wanted to get the hell out of there. “Okay.” He took a deep breath, and not even stopping to think about it, he rapidly opened the door to ‘not scary at all’. Astoundingly, the only thing down there was an empty tunnel. “Thank God! Let’s go!”

Richie didn’t need to be told twice. They shined their torches inside, and took one step through the door, until something stopped them in their path. The couple froze, diverting their light to the thing inches from their feet.

“Oh, shit.” Richie almost whispered, as a tiny, fluffy Pomeranian blinked up at them.

Eddie frowned, “No way am I falling for this bullshit again!”

“Yeah,” Richie almost laughed, “Look at it, it’s a fucking monster.”

“Make it sit!”

Instead, Richie glared at the creature, “I know your moves, you little bitch!

As he said this, the sound of the clown’s weird claw thingy stopped, and suddenly it went bizarrely quiet. Eddie turned around to look down the long, darkened cave, to find that Pennywise had left.

“Rich!” Eddie said, elbowing his boyfriend, who followed his gaze. “He’s gone!”

“Oh, thank fuck.” Richie sighed, “Okay, good, Okay.”

“Wait, the dog.” Eddie said, as they both tore their gazes back to the little dog, panting heavily inside the entrance to the door.

Richie couldn’t help but feel some adoration for the little guy, he was a sucker for animals, “Sit!”

To their surprise, the Pomeranian did just that. It tilted its head, as if waiting for more instructions, or probably a treat.

“Aw,” Eddie grinned, “That’s kind of cute.”

“I know, right?” Richie smiled too, “Can we get one?”

“What? A dog?” Eddie asked.

“A Pomeranian,” Richie said specifically, because, well, they were fluffy, and had tiny legs that looked funny when they walked. “I’ve always wanted one.”

“We don’t even live together.” Eddie said, as a matter of fact.

“I mean… we could?” Richie shrugged, “If you wanted to? I uh… do you?”

Eddie looked at him as if he’d grown another head, “Of course I do stupid,” he said. “But are we seriously having this conversation right now?”

“What? In front of the dog?” Richie joked. “I’m sure he doesn’t mind.”

Eddie snorted, “Yes, in front of the dog that-,”

Woof. The two looked down at said dog that let out a high-pitched bark, that echoed off the walls of the cave. Richie grinned at the delightful sound, making Eddie chuckle.

“Aw, there’s a good boy.” He cooed, extending his hand to smooth its furry coat. “Such a good little boy.”

Thankfully he didn’t reach out too fast, because in a split second the animal went from cute and tiny, to bursting into a huge, ugly, dead looking thing, that growled and spat at them, about to probably take off their heads with its gross as hell teeth. Once again, the couple screamed in surprise, Eddie banging the door shut on the alien creature.

“Jesus fuck!” Richie cursed, already clutching in Eddie’s hand and heading back the way they came, “Fucking doors!”

Eddie shrieking, “We are _not_ getting a fucking Pomeranian!”

Richie and Eddie ran through the tunnel until they reached its entrance again, seeing the bright light of the deadlights still floating in the air. Richie abruptly turned to Eddie, stopping him, holding him still by the arms.

“Wait here.” He said, pushing Eddie slightly back so he wouldn’t be seen. “Don’t move.”

“What?” Eddie scoffed, “No way!”

“Eddie!” Richie argued, “Please!”

The hypochondriac heaved a sigh, seeing the look of desperation in his boyfriend’s eyes, knowing he just wanted to keep him safe. It wouldn’t hurt to stay there for a second, Richie only wanted to check that the coast was clear, so he nodded, Richie smiling in relief before hurriedly walking around the piece of stone blocking them from view. It didn’t take long before Eddie could hear Richie shouting something, something that sounded a lot like insults being thrown at Pennywise, and for fuck sake, Eddie wanted to punch the dumbass for being so stupid. So, he didn’t stay in his hiding spot for long.

Eddie quickly followed after him, stopping dead when he got to the end of the pathway. Eddie felt sick to the stomach, looking on in horror as he saw Richie’s body begin to ascend into thin air, like he was being pulled up by invisible strings. Except, those strings were being controlled by Pennywise, who’s mouth had opened into an enormous cavern of teeth, a hole through his head where bolts of lights were being sucked through from the dancing deadlights. Richie was in trouble; he was in the damn deadlights. Eddie felt panic rise in him, fearing for his boyfriend’s life, not knowing how he of all people could save him.

But he had to. He had to save him. This was Richie, and he could potentially die by the clown’s fucking hands, and there was no way in hell he was going to let that happen. Eddie looked down at the metal rod clutched in his hand. That was it, that’s what he could do, use the pole to skewer that son of a bitch. Eddie put on a smile, and held the piece of metal tighter in his sweaty palm.

“It kills monsters, if you believe it does.” Eddie said, echoing Bev’s words from earlier. “If you believe it does.”

Eddie gave a curt nod, and took a deep, heavy breath. Eyeing up Pennywise’s open jaw, and squinting through the brightness of the lights, Eddie raised his arm with the rod above his head, and prepared to fling it right at its target and hope to God it worked. With a bit of a run, Eddie pitched himself forward and let his arm go.

“Beep beep, motherfucker!” He yelled at the top of his voice, and the steel bar was soaring through the air.

Eddie shrieked in absolute triumph as he hit his target, right at the back of the clown’s throat. The creature let out a piercing cry, shutting its trap and beginning to wobble, and tumble around, as if he’d lost balance. Richie was free from the deadlights, and his still body went falling straight to the dirty floor like a rock, making a cringy thump as he hit it.

“Richie!” Eddie called, running like the wind to get to him, fortunately only metres away up the slope.

“Rich! Rich! Hey, Rich, wake up!” Eddie fell to his knees next to the other man, leaning over him and shaking his shoulders to try and stir him, hoping to god he was alright. Richie looked around in a daze, like he was waking from a deep sleep. “Hey!”

Eddie grinned as Richie slowly came around, looking up at him with wide eyes. Richie was clueless as to what the hell was going on for a second, hearing Eddie calling his name, feeling warm hands on his shoulders, as the blurry shape of Eddie himself came into view above him. The comedian gazed at his partner in confusion, feeling his heartrate escalate, and his blood run cold. He’d seen this before, the exact same picture. And it wasn’t a long time ago he’d seen it, no, it was seconds ago, when he was trapped in the deadlights.

**Eddie above him, smiling from ear to ear, calling him, so excited about something. Then blood, so much blood. Eddie’s blood. It smeared his glasses, stained his cheeks, and ran down Eddie’s chest and mouth like a waterfall.**

**Richie.**

**He’d been stabbed right through the chest. A humongous alien-like claw sticking through.**

**Richie?**

**Eddie’s terrified, pained eyes looked right into Richie’s before he was thrown across the cave like a ragdoll, a deafening smack echoing along the walls as his body hit the rocks.**

**Richie had held his jacket over Eddie’s wound.**

**Richie had begged him to stay alive.**

**Richie had kissed him, feeling the warm blood against his own lips.**

**Richie had cried, and cried, and cried, as Eddie’s hand fell from his, lifeless.**

**EDDIE!**

**The cave was sinking in, massive rocks and debris falling like rain.**

**EDDIE!**

**Richie screamed his lover’s name as Bill and Bev had to drag him away, whilst Ben and Mike carried Eddie’s lifeless body behind him. He wanted to just feel him, touch him, hold him.**

**He did. When they got out. Richie held Eddie’s unmoving body in his arms outside of Neibolt, the house collapsing, as he sobbed, and yelled out in anger and grief, clinging to Eddie like he would disappear at any moment.**

**Eddie was dead.**

“Yeah, yeah, there he is buddy!” Eddie bellowed out in utter relief, words poured out, and his hands gripped Richie’s jacket. “Hey, Richie, listen! I think I got him!”

Richie’s eyes finally came into full focus, seeing the excited smile across Eddie’s face. “I did it, Rich! I think I might have killed him!”

Then Richie saw it. He kind of knew it was coming, he’d just seen it happening, therefore he was prepared. Although, he wasn’t prepared for how fast it happened. Like a shadow out of the corner of his eye, Richie saw the gigantic, black claw of Pennywise rise into the air, ready to strike. As it came shooting right for Eddie, Richie clutched in the smaller man’s jacket, and yanked him to the side.

But the clown was must too fast for him. Richie froze in shock as the sharp blade of the monster’s claw went straight through Eddie’s left shoulder, like a knife through butter. There was a cringy squelching sound as it tore through the skin and muscle, blood splattering from the wound, some decorating Richie’s face and glasses. And the worst part was Eddie’s face, Richie’s heart sank as the younger man’s brown eyes widened in pure shock and horror, his hands shakily covering Richie’s that was still gripping his jacket for dear life.

“R-Richie.” Eddie let out through the pain, small droplets of blood dribbling from his lips.

“Eddie!” Richie stuttered. It wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. Please don’t be real.

“Richie.” Eddie repeated his lover’s name. His shoulder hurt, man it hurt. The pain had been the worst he’d ever felt.

And it didn’t stop there. Before Richie could make another move to help his boyfriend, Pennywise had other ideas. With no effort whatsoever, It raised Eddie into the air with It’s arm, practically snatching him out of Richie’s grip, making him groan out in absolute agony, and then he was tossing Eddie away like a sack of garbage. He went flying into the air, and dropped with an echoing slam as he hit the rocks, and went barrelling down one of the many hidden gaps in the wall. Richie watched in horror as the man he loved was thrown aside like a doll, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“Eddie!” Richie screamed, on wobbly legs he pushed himself off the wet ground, and sprinted as fast as his legs could take him to the gap in the wall.

The Losers had witnessed the entire thing from the side-lines, just minutes after returning from their own nightmares brought to life by the clown. They’d shouted in revulsion at what they saw, not knowing how bad the injury had been, how bad Eddie was, all they knew was that it wasn’t good. As soon as Richie’d ran for the place where Eddie had fallen, the other four went straight after him, just about dodging Pennywise’s swinging arms.

They all went slipping and sliding down the slope of the little cavern, Richie picking up his pace and almost falling flat when he saw Eddie at the bottom. The hypochondriac was face first in the muddy ground, unmoving, like a statue. Richie fell down to his knees beside his boyfriend’s body, and praying to whatever the fuck was out there that he was okay, as he gently grabbed him by the shoulder, and turned him around.

Eddie moaned in pain as he was moved onto his back, coughing slightly. “Eddie!” Richie sighed in pure relief, quickly helping his wounded boyfriend to sit up against the wall comfortably, “Hey, Eddie, look at me, hey!” he said, as he took off his cotton jacket hurriedly.

Eddie’s face was paler than they’d ever seen, blood all around his lips and down his chin, eyes glazed over in a daze, body visibly shaking. “R-Richie.” He coughed out, “I-it hurts, man.”

“Shh, I know, sweetheart.” Richie said softly, gently, and cautiously placing his jacket over the bleeding wound in Eddie’s shoulder, hoping it would stop some of the blood from escaping. “It’s going to be okay, you hear me? You’re going to be fine!”

Eddie nodded slowly. Richie wanted to scream and shout, and hit something, this was all his fault. He’d promised, promised Eddie he would look after him, would keep him safe, and he hadn’t. Pennywise had threatened him over and over again, showing him images of Eddie lifeless, bleeding, dying, and he hadn’t failed in getting what he wanted. He’d proven to Richie that he really couldn’t save him. He’d let this happen. Even seeing it all play out before him through the deadlights, he still couldn’t fucking keep him safe!

“Don’t.” Eddie said, so quiet he was barely audible. “I know just what you’re thinking, dumbass.”

Richie smiled a little, of course he did. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Eddie repeated. “Please.”

“I could have prevented this… I should have, I-,”

“Rich.” Eddie covered Richie’s hand on his shoulder with his own, “You can’t always keep me safe.”

“I _can_ ,” Richie felt the tears prickle the back of his eyelids, his hands beginning to shake. “I can and I should have, Eddie. I’m so fucking sorry!”

The two were rudely interrupted, when a thunderous roar sounded from the gap in where they’d come through, the walls shaking and bits of debris spiralling through the air. They all looked up to see Pennywise barrelling into the sides of the cave, long claws digging through the stone, urgently trying to get to them, to finish them.

“Shit!” Mike jumped back as a rock came flying his way.

“What are we going to do?” Bev said anxiously, eyes widening in fear as the clown laughed and growled, and started headbutting his way through the entrance.

“I don’t know,” Bill said honestly, “I don’t know what we _can_ do.”

Richie felt Eddie squeeze his hand as firm as he could, “We have to make him small.” He gritted out, “The leper… I… I almost killed it. I had my hands around it’s throat, I-I made him small. He seemed so… weak.”

Mike suddenly had a lightbulb moment, grinning in understanding, “The Shakopeewa!” he said, “All of the living things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit!”

Richie didn’t seem to take any notice of Mike, but the others did, trying to put the puzzle together. Then, Ben came through a hole in the wall, calling out to his friends.

“Over here, I’ve found a passageway, it’s through here!”

“The tunnels!” Bev almost shouted, as it dawned on her too. “Pennywise has to make himself small in order to get through them all, if we get back there, we can force him down to size!”

“Yeah,” Bill nodded, starting to put two and two together himself. “We make him small enough to kill!”

Mike nodded, turning to share a smile with Eddie, squeezing his leg in a silent thank you.

“Losers!”

Everyone jumped at the booming voice of Pennywise, almost being able to poke his head right into the cavern, almost close enough to get to them.

“I can smell your fear! So much fear!”

With an angry snarl, the monster bashed his head against the rock, destroying the cave with its bladelike claws, the rubble hurling down towards the Losers. Mike yelled to get everyone into action, already pushing Ben and Bev over to the small tunnel in the wall, as Bill and Richie carefully helped Eddie to stand, who groaned in pain.

“It’s okay, you’re okay.” Richie whispered beside him, holding his now completely stained jacket against the wound.

With some effort the two managed to get Eddie through the small tunnel, meeting Bev, Ben and Mike on the other side, as they kept on lookout, watching Pennywise metres away, still digging his way into their last hideout. Bill helped Richie lower Eddie to the ground, who cried at the hot, searing pain that shot through his chest, hand clutching onto Richie’s arm for support.

“Hey,” Richie said, voice breaking. He couldn’t stand this, seeing Eddie in pain, bleeding through the material of his jacket, his words barely a whisper. “Eddie, sweetheart, hey, it’s going to be okay.”

“Urghh.” Eddie mumbled in return, letting his head fall back to rest against the cold wall. “Rich… I have to tell you something.”

“Yeah?” Richie said attempting a smile, but what came out was more like a grimace, muscles tense from his effort at trying not to completely break down into tears in front of his boyfriend. “What is it, Eddie?”

Eddie smiled just slightly, and said “I actually like it when you call me Eds.”

Richie couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, actually letting the tears fall this time, feeling a surge of pure fucking _love_ for the man in front of him. “Yeah?” he whispered, using his free hand to run through Eddie’s dirtied hair, as the younger man nodded slowly. “Guess I’ll have to call you that more often then, huh?”

“Yeah.” Eddie croaked, licking his bloody lips and wincing straight after.

A loud, earth shattering roar sounded from around the cavern, snapping their attention away from each other for two seconds. They saw the rest of the Losers leading Pennywise in a circle around the cave, as It swung its arms around, its blade hands smashing into the ground with reverberating bangs.

“A-are they okay?” Eddie asked, not being able to see the scene properly.

Richie winced as Pennywise went in to slice through Bev with its blade, but stopped halfway, like Bev had used the damn force. Next thing he knew, Bev was telling the clown some pretty mean stuff, and It actually looked taken aback.

“Woah,” Richie laughed, just out of shock. “Are they bullying the fucking clown?”

Eddie snorted, “That’s one way to do it, I guess.”

Richie turned back to his boyfriend and grinned, “You’re a genius, professor.”

Eddie smiled, he couldn’t really believe it himself. He’d only thought of it after he’d stabbed the thing in its face with the iron bar, just a quick thought, not certain that it would work, just knowing that Pennywise wasn’t invincible. He could just about hear the Losers yelling and screaming insults at the clown, clear determination in their voices.

“You should go.” He told Richie.

“Fuck no!” the comedian said, “I’m not leaving you!”

“Richie.” Eddie barely whispered this time, starting to feel slightly weak, and tired, he just wanted to take a nice nap for a little bit. “Go. They need you.”

“ _You_ need me.” Richie said seriously, taking a peek at the others who now had Pennywise backed up inside the claw like rock, shouting down at It. “Eddie, I’m not leaving you!”

“I’ll be right here.” He said, reaching out a shaky hand to rest against Richie’s cheek, rubbing his thumb soothingly across his skin. On the one hand he wanted Richie to stay, to hold him and tell him everything would be alright. But on the other, he could slowly feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, and he didn’t want Richie to see, he didn’t know if he would take another breath soon, he couldn’t let Richie see that. “I’ll be fine, Rich. _Go_.”

Richie cursed under his breath, roughly rubbing away the tears on his face with the back of his hands, “Fine,” he said, not happy with the idea but knowing Eddie he’d keep arguing, and he wasn’t wrong, the Losers did need his help. “Keep your eyes open, okay?”

Eddie nodded again, moaning softly as Richie moved his hand off the jacket on his wound, lifting Eddie’s hand to replace it. He took the hint, and pressed down as much as he could on the injury, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold it there for too long. His hands were trembling, feeling weaker and weaker by the minute.

Richie held Eddie’s head in his hands, “I love you, Eds.”

Eddie smiled sweetly, “I love you too, Rich.” He whispered.

Richie tried another smile, and not giving a shit that Eddie’s lips were painted in blood, bent down to kiss him gently. “I’ll be right back.”

Eddie just nodded again in reply, not even going to mention the blood now marking his partner’s lips, too drained to even try to move his jaw. Richie gave him one last look of comfort, hesitating a tad, before he tore his hands away and pushed himself onto his feet. Eddie watched him walk away, knowing Richie was probably beating himself up already about leaving, but knew he had to, Eddie needed him to.

The injured man lay there gazing out to where Richie had strolled off to, seeing the bright lights hovering in the air, the black, shining cavern being lit up, the silhouettes of his friends off in the distance, their voices comforting. He turned his head away, now, staring at a wall, feeling the blood drain out of him like water from a tap. Eddie was tired, so tired, he felt as if he could just shut his eyes and relax.

So, that’s what he did. Eddie closed his eyes slowly, tuning out the sounds around him, the only thought in his mind of Richie, and only Richie. Of them riding bikes together as kids, sharing ice cream over Richie’s house on the weekends, playing silly card games during lunchtime at school, their first proper kiss.

_“Can’t believe it’s been a whole week since we beat that dumbass clown!” Richie said, as he plonked himself down next to Eddie, leaning back against the tree. “Eddie? You okay, dude?”_

_Eddie snapped out of his trance, turning to Richie with a nod. He seemed, you could say, completely out of it. Like he’d been thinking way to hard, and was in his own little world. Which made sense, this was his first outing with the Losers since their meeting by the bridge, after they’d sworn through a blood pact that they’d come back to defeat It together. Eddie hadn’t been seen since, locking himself up in his house the entire time._

_“You sure?” Richie asked again, feeling quite worried. “We haven’t seen you for a while, is everything alright?”_

_“Yeah,” Eddie answered this time, not taking his eyes off of the other Losers as they messed around in the lake. “Just been thinking.”_

_“About what? The clown?”_

_“No.” Eddie sighed, then being brave, he turned to face his best friend and just said it outright; “Did you kiss me down in the sewer?”_

_Richie froze, eyes wide, mouth agape. He definitely was not expecting that, and he definitely had no idea what to say except: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

_Eddie frowned, “Yes you do, dickface. When I was in the deadlights, I felt something, something touching my lips!”_

_Richie quickly looked away, at anything but his friend. “Maybe it was the wind.”_

_“Oh fuck off!” Eddie huffed, nudging the other boy. “I woke up and you were right there! You kissed me!”_

_“No I didn’t!” Richie tried to argue back, stuttering over his words. “I didn’t I swear, I-I didn’t… I would never… I-I…”_

_“Richie!” Eddie yelled, cutting him off. The younger boy huffed again, moving his gaze to the very interesting spot on the floor, fiddling with his fingers. “I um… I wouldn’t have minded, you know.” He shrugged. “If… If you did… you know… kiss me.”_

_Richie almost choked on air. His eyes grew as wide as saucers, and his jaw would have been touching the floor if it could. There was no way, no way Eddie had just said what he thinks he just said, right? For once in his thirteen years of life, Richie Tozier was left speechless._

_Eddie seemed to notice of course, “Rich?” he almost whispered, feeling anxious, as he looked up at him slowly._

_“I uh…” Richie swallowed, feeling like this was some really weird dream. “Did… um… what?”_

_Eddie could practically see his friend misfunctioning right in front of him, spluttering like a duck. He’d basically broken him, so Eddie took a deep breath, lapped up all the courage he could muster, and went for the kill._

_Richie gasped in complete surprise when the next thing he knew, Eddie had plunged forward and was kissing him, on the lips. He was frozen to the spot, eyes open like a deer in the headlights, feeling his heart beating a hundred miles a minute against his chest. Eddie was kissing him. Eddie was kissing him and he was just sitting there like a dumbass._

_So, being the gentleman that he was, Richie closed his eyes and relaxed into the kiss. But, it was over way too quickly, as Eddie was pulling back, his cheeks as red as a tomato, and eyes big and bright like he was waiting for Richie to react._

_“Woah.” Is all Richie could say, his own eyes fluttering open. “That was fucking awesome.” He breathed out, making Eddie smile in relief. “Did we just… you just… what the shit is happening?”_

_“We kissed, dipshit.” Eddie rolled his eyes, feeling a lot less nervous than he had just seconds ago._

_“No, no I know, I just…” Richie was rambling, he knew that, but what in the world was actually going on? “You… why?”_

_Eddie felt his cheeks turn warm again, “Because…” he began, looking to the floor. “I like you.”_

_Richie’s eyebrows animatedly shot into his hairline, “You like me? Like… like me, like me? Like… more than a friend like me?”_

_“Ain’t it obvious, stupid!” Eddie sighed heavily, throwing his hands in the air. He didn’t know whether Richie was joking, or actually being a clueless idiot. “I kissed you, duh. I like you more than a friend!”_

_“Really?” Richie squeaked. Seriously though, what the hell?_

_“Yes!” Eddie frowned, beginning to think Richie was just playing dumb and annoying him on purpose. Little did he know, Richie was dumbfounded beyond words. “So, do you want to be my boyfriend or not?_

_Okay, so Richie was going to either faint or explode, either one. Because Eddie just asked him to be his boyfriend, his_ boyfriend _! He wanted someone to hit him, hard, over the head, because there was no way in the deepest depths of hell that this was real. Right? And… wait, Richie blinked, suddenly breaking himself out of his weird musing, just as Eddie got up off the grass and started stomping away._

_“Wait!” Richie shrieked, realising what he’d just done. Sat there like a tool, and not answered Eddie’s question. “Eddie, wait!”_

_Richie hurriedly got up off his feet, running after his best friend, grasping in his wrist to stop him. Eddie twisted around on the spot, furious expression, glaring daggers at the older boy._

_“Eddie, I’m sorry!” Richie quickly said, not letting go of his wrist. “I just… I was just shocked, okay? I mean… holy shit, dude, the guy I’ve had a crush on since like, fourth grade, likes me back and kissed me and then asked me to be his fucking boyfriend, and I’m kind of freaking the hell out a little here!”_

_Eddie gawped, as Richie took a breath. “You… you’ve had a crush on me since fourth grade?”_

_Richie sighed, shoulders slouching, finally being able to say his feelings out loud, and boy did it feel fantastic. “Yes! Eddie… jesus… I’ve been totally in love with you for like, forever!”_

_“You love me?” Eddie barely whispered. Now it was his turn to be in shock._

_Richie nodded, “Yeah, dude. I want more than anything to be your boyfriend. It’s been the one thing I’ve always wanted. I never thought you’d like me back, or… or even like boys for that matter. This is like… it’s so unreal right now I seriously think I’m in some kind of dream!”_

_Eddie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. When he’d figured out Richie had kissed him down in the sewers, he’d thought maybe he kind of liked him, like Eddie had kind of liked him for a while, his feelings growing over the years. But he didn’t think Richie had liked him, let alone loved him, for all those years._

_Eddie felt a smile split his face, and he threw himself into Richie’s arms. “I love you, Trashmouth.”_

_Richie’s heart skipped a beat at hearing those words from the boy he’d fallen head over heels for, as he wrapped him in his arms and held him tight. He grinned like a maniac, “Love you too, Eddie Spaghetti.”_

_“Say that again and I’m dumping you already.” Eddie mumbled into the awful Hawaiian shirt. He quickly pulled away, looking up at a smiling Richie. “I mean… if we are boyfriends now?”_

_“Shit, Eddie,” Richie laughed, “I’m pretty fucking sure confessing your undying love to someone means your boyfriends now.”_

_Eddie smiled happily, as Richie took his hands in his. They smiled at one another, and in unison they were drawn together, Richie bending down as Eddie got up on his tiptoes, to meet in the middle for another peck on the lips._

_“YEAH! GET IN THERE TOZIER!”_

_“FINALLY!”_

_“HUBBA HUBBA!”_

_The Losers in the lake whistled and cheered, as Richie and Eddie swiftly split apart, the younger boy blushing so red he blended in with his shorts. Richie though, he just grinned from ear to ear, flipping the bird at his friends before swinging his and Eddie’s entwined hands in the air._

_“EDDIE’S MY BOYFRIEND, BITCHES!”_

_Eddie wanted to smack him one, but the big smile on his face stopped him, and instead, he smiled himself. And Richie, he was still in disbelief that that had just happened. Eddie was his boyfriend! After all those years of fear, of being scared of losing Eddie, it was all thrown out the window, and everything felt perfect for once._

_“Hey Eds,” Richie smirked, “Race you to the lake!”_

_Eddie had no time to even reciprocate, before Richie was sprinting towards the water. Eddie yelled that he was a big, fat cheater, but ran after him anyway, complaining that he couldn’t go in because his plaster would get wet. Turned out, Richie was great at giving piggybacks._

Eddie smiled to himself at the fond memories of that day. Remembering how Richie had held him above water the entire time, checking if his arm was okay every five minutes, making sure wasn’t too cold as they got out. That night, Eddie had gone home, and Richie had snuck through the window, and they’d fallen asleep in bed listening to one of Richie’s favourite bands.

Eddie could remember the touch of Richie’s hand in his just seconds ago, as he felt himself slip away, his hand falling limp by his side. The last thing he heard, was Richie calling his name somewhere off in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #eddiedeservedbetter


	9. The Race

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Only a couple of chapters left, this was a bit rushed again as I've not really been in the right head space. Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> I hope everyone's doing okay in the current virus situation, I'm here to talk with anyone who needs a listening ear or just someone to keep them company, even if I am a boring 29 year old who doesn't have a clue about TikTok or the latest fashion trends. You're not in it alone. So I hope you're all doing well, and keeping yourselves and others safe. Remember to stay at home, because it really does save lives! Love to you all, and stay safe.

When Richie left Eddie laying there in his own blood, fighting for his life, he felt such guilt that it hurt, and he felt sick to the stomach. He hurriedly rushed over to the other Losers, before he changed his mind, knowing Eddie would scold him for doing so. And when he got there, sliding through the sharp rock, coming face to face with Pennywise again, he saw red. He laid his eyes upon the pathetic creature on the ground, looking like a helpless child instead of a gigantic, killer monster, its head melting into the rock like a fried egg. The comedian would have laughed if he wasn’t so full of rage in that moment.

Richie growled, feeling his blood boil, as he bent down to grab a hold of one of the clown’s long, skinny arms, the one with the blade still stained crimson that had stabbed through Eddie’s chest, and with one swift tug he ripped the thing off its body. He seethed in anger as he flung the arm away to the side, wanting nothing more than to beat the shit out of this fucking clown until it begged for mercy.

“That’s for Eddie, you son of a bitch!” he spat.

“He’s nothing but a stupid, sad clown. We’re not afraid of him anymore.” Bill added in, putting a hand on Richie’s shoulder for comfort. “Nothing but a clown! You’re just a fucking clown!”

“A pitiful clown!” Ben added in.

“All alone,” Mike shouted, “You have _no one_.”

Then the Losers chanted together, voices rising with each word, echoing off the black walls, “Clown. Clown. Clown, Clown…”

Pennywise whimpered, his sad face sinking slowly into the ground. “Look at you all,” he snivelled in his high-pitched tone. “You’ve all grown up.”

Mike didn’t waste anymore time, and getting down on his knee, he punched his hand right into the alien’s chest, the squelchy sound making him wince. Wrapping his hand around the clown’s heart, Mike wrenched at it hard, and ripped it out of his chest with hardly any effort. Pennywise groaned and whined, his eyes watching Mike as he stepped back up, and joined the other Losers.

They all gathered around him, as Mike held up the organ in his hand, eyeing the clown. “It’s time to finish this.”

The Losers looked at one another, as they each put their hands around the heart. They all took a deep breath, they squeezed, fingers digging in through the heart, staining their hands a gruesome red. Fading into grey, the heart slowly malformed like a lump of clay, and turned into nothing but dust in their hands, that went floating into the air like bits of snow. The same happened to Pennywise himself, who whimpered and whined as he felt himself grow weak, wedged to the ground, his face beginning to wither and turn to dust. Every one of the Losers watched It as he disappeared piece by piece, like he was being swept away with the wind.

And just like that, Pennywise was no more. The Losers felt like a hefty weight had unexpectedly been lifted off their shoulders, they felt different, that nagging in the back of their head was gone, they were free. Free from the grasp of fear. They all stood there in disbelief, taking a breather, trying to comprehend what was going on. It honestly didn’t feel real to any of them. They’d killed the clown, for good, Derry wouldn’t be under his spell anymore. But Richie, he had other more important things to think about.

“Eddie.” Richie whispered, cursing under his breath after taking so long to just stand there like an idiot.

With his adrenaline still pumping aggressively through his veins, Richie sprinted back to where he’d left Eddie, ignoring the unforeseen sounds of rumbling and rubble falling in the distance. He almost lost his footing as he approached Eddie, seeing that his eyes were now closed, and he looked as still as a statue, skin grey and lips turning blue.

“Fuck!” Richie cursed out loud, practically collapsing next to his lover. “No, no, no, please God no!”

The comedian gently, and carefully, ran his hand through Eddie’s hair, the other pressing his fingers against his pulse in his neck. He waited, his own heart racing. Richie tried desperately to tune out the sound of the cave collapsing all around them, hoping it would last just a while longer, long enough for them to get out of there, with Eddie.

“Richie?” Bev called gently from behind him, as the rest of them caught up. “Is he…”

Dead.

“I-I can’t feel anything, I can’t… fuck!” Richie shouted loudly, panic setting in.

Suddenly, a quiet moan sounded from Eddie’s lips. Richie almost jumped, he could have sworn he heard it, as did the others, he leaned forward and took Eddie’s face in his hands.

“Eddie?” he said a little louder than a whisper, “Eds? Baby, can you hear me? Come on, say something for me, you little shit!”

The youngest Loser just about flinched, a barely audible groan passing his lips. That’s all Richie needed to assure him Eddie was still with him, still breathing, which meant they needed to get him help, and fast.

“We have to get him to the fucking hospital!” Richie shot at his friends, “Please, we have to get him out of here!”

“We know, Richie.” Bill nodded, already kneeling by his side, ready to do whatever his friend needed. “We’ve got to move, quickly. The caves coming down!”

Richie nodded agitatedly, “I’ll hold him from behind.”

“Yeah,” Ben agreed, taking Eddie’s left side. “I’ve got his leg.”

“I’ll take the other.” Mike said, as he cautiously put his arms under the right one.

Richie got the toughest job, having to move Eddie slightly forward to step behind him, resting the smaller man against his chest. Eddie groaned in his state of unconsciousness, Richie being even more steady as he lifted him up from under the armpits, using one hand to push down on the jacket placed on the wound.

“Hurry,” Bill called to them, as he lead the way out through one of the many caverns, hoping and praying it would end up where they’d began. “The place is coming down fast!”

With their hearts pumping furiously, adrenaline through the roof, the Losers just about ran through the sewers. They’d luckily found a way out through the maze of pipes, eventually getting back to the well. Having Eddie unconscious was proving to be quite hard, but they tried their best as the caves crumbled behind them, minutes away from catching up. Ben came up with the idea of tying Eddie with the thick rope under his arms, and hoisting him up, Richie wasn’t too pleased as he was petrified of making his injury worse, but had no choice as it seemed to be the only option.

Thankfully, it worked, although Eddie groaned out in pain as his whole weight was pulling down on the rope, stretching his muscle and skin in his shoulder. That had them rushing even faster as they all efficiently got out of the well, and made their way through Neibolt house for the last time. None of them looking back.

Just as they were carrying Eddie down the creaking steps of Neibolt, the entire house began to shake and collapse, shrieking and banging noisily right behind them. They could feel the gust of wind, and dust zipping past them as they kept going, all the way out through the rusty gate, and onto the pavement. The three gently lowered Eddie to the ground, Richie kneeling and keeping Eddie in his arms, strengthening his hold on the jacket against his wound.

The Losers watched as Neibolt finally fell apart, the roof falling in, the walls crumpling in on themselves, debris and dust floating in the air like a big cloud as the ground swallowed the entire building whole. But, they didn’t have time to watch for long or even think about what it meant, as Eddie was still bleeding out in Richie’s arms, unmoving on the hard ground.

“Guys,” Richie croaked, panic evident in his voice. “What do we do? What the _fuck_ do we do? We can’t carry him all the way to the hospital!”

“My car!” Mike said, snapping his fingers. “I’ll get my car, it’s only five minutes away at the library, it won’t take long!”

“Hurry Mike!” Bev told him, as she kneeled next to Richie, rubbing his back comfortingly, as he clung to Eddie.

“I’ll come too.” Bill said, as he gestured for Mike to get going, the two sprinting off down the road, out of sight within seconds.

“He’s not breathing,” Richie said then, holding Eddie tight against his chest, letting out quiet sobs. “Guys, he’s not fucking moving!”

“He’s okay, Richie.” Bev assured him, putting her fingers on the pulse point on Eddie’s neck. The pulse was there, not perceptible, but definitely there. “He’s going to be okay, Mike and Bill will be right back and we’ll get him the help he needs.”

Richie sniffled, “There’s so much blood…” he said, eyeing the seeped through jacket he still clung on to. He had that nagging feeling at the back of his mind that if he let go, Eddie would die, he’d bleed out completely on the pavement and that would be it. “He’s lost so much… fuck, there’s so much blood!”

“Hey,” Ben said calmly, quickly joining them on the floor, stripping his overshirt. “Here, use this.”

Richie stared at the blue shirt in Ben’s hands and nodded, shakily he removed his jacket from the wound in Eddie’s shoulder, and discarded it nearby. The three grimaced at the deep, bloody hole in the younger man’s shoulder, hurriedly replacing Richie’s material with Bens. Eddie groaned in protest, his body convulsing at the touch.

“It’s okay, Eds, it’s okay.” Richie whispered in his ear, “You’re going to be okay.”

Within less than a minute, Bev and Ben spotted Mike’s car speeding up the street towards them. They hurriedly helped Richie to pick up Eddie bridal style in his arms, just as the vehicle came to an abrupt stop after turning around, and then they were on the move. Ben opened the back door of the car as Bev and Richie carefully manoeuvred Eddie into it, Richie having to squish into the back with his long limbs, wedged in the corner with his boyfriend’s head in his lap.

“Let’s go!” Ben shouted as they were all in, him on the other corner of the back seat, whilst Bev sat in the middle, taking Eddie’s hand in her own.

Mike stepped on the gas and was tearing out of there like a man on a mission. The tyres squealed against the tarmac, and dust filled the air, as the car went hurtling down the road. They all couldn’t imagine how many rules Mike was breaking as he drove them through the town, but it didn’t matter in that moment, as Eddie’s skin turned bluer by the minute, and by now even Ben’s shirt was changing to the colour red.

“Hold on, Eddie!” Bev said, as she squeezed his hand tighter, gazing sadly over at Richie who was pressing down so hard on the younger man’s wound, desperately trying to stop the blood flow.

The entire way Richie spoke to Eddie, calling his name, telling him he was going to make it, letting him know it wasn’t far until he could get help. It felt like the longest journey of the comedian’s life, what only took ten minutes just outside of town, seemed like hours, as he cupped Eddie’s face in his hand and hoped he could hear his voice, and hold on just a tad longer.

“We’re here!” Mike yelled, spinning the car around the bend and into the car park. “I’ll park outside the emergency doors!”

Richie sighed inaudibly in relief, gently putting his arms under the smaller man, ready to get him the hell into that hospital as hasty as he could. As soon as Mike’s car came to an abrupt stop just outside the A+E entrance, every occupant of the vehicle went into action. Bill, Ben and Mike practically dove out of their doors, running around to help Richie, as he kicked his door open and cautiously hauled Eddie out.

“Bev, go in ahead and get a doctor!” Bill ordered, Bev already on it as she quickly got out of the car and sprinted inside.

“Okay, Richie?” Ben asked, as they helped Richie pull Eddie out.

Richie just nodded, too focused on not putting Eddie in anymore pain. Not that it would affect him, he hadn’t stirred for a while now, and that had Richie close to losing his shit. As he finally got out of the car, Eddie safe in his arms, Richie wasted no more time and as carefully as he could he hurriedly went inside the building, the other three men hot on his tail. Even before he could get passed the second set of doors, Bev was running towards him, three nurses and a doctor in tow, pushing a gurney.

“Richie!” She cried, gesturing to the bed. “On here, quick.”

The hospital staff came to a stop, helping Richie safely place Eddie onto the bed. Their faces said it all, they looked just as in shock as Richie felt, eyes wide and mouths agape, probably not expecting all that blood and a person who was on death’s door.

“What the _hell_ happened?” The doctor asked, as they began wheeling him through the main room, the Losers closely in tow, Richie right by Eddie’s side as he clung to his hand.

“He-He was stabbed by…” Richie began, but couldn’t go on.

Bill saved him, “A house collapsed, one of the metal rods hit him.”

“House collapse?” The doctor frowned, but didn’t question any further. He could see the state on all of them, covered in dirt and grime, and Bev covered in what looked like blood, which probably meant they’d be getting a proper questioning further down the line. “Nurse Thompson, a blood transfusion will be needed. Do you know what blood type he is?” he asked the others.

Nobody knew. Why would they know that? Hell, most of them didn’t now their own blood type let alone their friends.

“He’s A positive.” Richie said, surprising his friends. Of course he’d know, when they were kids Richie was always there for Eddie during or after his doctor or hospital visits, he knew as much about Eddie’s medical records as the man himself.

“Thank you.” The medic nodded, as they came to some double doors. “I’m sorry, you must wait here.”

“What?” Richie looked up, as a nurse came forward. “I’m not leaving him!”

“Richie…” Bev stepped in along with Mike and Bill, who held him back, watching as Eddie was wheeled through the door, Richie having no choice but to leave go of his hand.

“Eddie!” he yelled, staring after his boyfriend, who was as still as ever on the bed. “No! I can’t leave him, please!”

“Sir,” The nurse tried to calm him, “Please, he’s being taken into surgery, you must wait in the waiting-,”

“Eddie!” Richie ignored her, trying to dislodge from his friends’ hold, letting the tears run down his face freely now. “Please…” he begged them, as he grew tired after minutes of struggling, and couldn’t hold in his emotions no more. “Eddie…” he chocked, giving in the fight and falling to his knees, his friends there to catch him. “He’s on his own… I can’t… I can’t leave him…”

“It’s okay, Richie.” Bill soothed, putting an arm around the older man’s shoulder, “Eddie’s not alone, we’re here. He’s going to be in good care.”

“Sir,” the nurse tried again, as Richie put his face in his hands, sobbing quietly. “He’s been taken into surgery, his wound is… it will take a few hours at most, if you’d like to wait in the waiting room, or come back a bit later? I promise you we will do the best we can. We’ll keep you up to date throughout.”

“Thank you,” Mike answered, standing to address the nurse. “We’ll stay for now.”

“Of course.” She nodded in understanding, gesturing down one of the quiet hallways, “The waiting room is just through there to the right, it’s currently empty.”

Mike smiled gratefully, “Thank you.”

It took a lot of persuasion to get Richie to get up off the floor, and leave the hallway. With some more reassurance from the nurse, and his friends guiding him along, they finally had him sitting in one of the uncomfortable, plastic chairs lining the wall. Ten minutes later a different nurse had popped in, letting them know Eddie was already under the knife, and it would take hours before they’d be done, especially with closing up his horrific wound. Richie still hadn’t settled an hour in. 

“Richie, honey?” Bev said out of the blue, trying to sound as soothing as she could. Richie had been pacing back and forth for ages, looking like he was losing his mind. “Why don’t you sit down?”

“I can’t.” Richie mumbled, continuing his pacing.

“You’ll feel better,” Mike added, “Come on, man.”

“Why is it taking so _fucking_ long?” Richie abruptly yelled as he yanked his glasses off, clutching in his hair and wanting to just pull it all out in frustration. “What the _fuck_ are they doing?”

“Richie.” Bev said softer this time, coming to stand beside him, putting her arm around his tall frame, Bill joined her on his other side, gripping in his arm. “Hey, come on now, come take a seat with us.”

“Yeah,” Bill said quietly, making Richie pull his hands out of his hair, seeing the look of absolute defeat in his face. He’d been crying so much his face was bright red, and his eyes were bloodshot and puffy. “Eddie would be worried sick if he saw you like this.”

That got Richie to move. He wanted to laugh at the thought, but didn’t have it in him. The comedian let Bill and Bev lead him to the seat near Ben, he almost fell into it, wincing as some pain from his ribs decided to make a visit. Although he felt like absolute shit, it did help when Bev put a hand on his shoulder, and Bill gripped his hand tightly, Mike and Ben standing close-by too.

“The doctor said they’re g-going to be a few hours yet, remember?” Bill said, Richie nodding in reply. “So, why don’t we go back to the townhouse, have a shower…”

“No.” Richie shook his head this time, “I’m not leaving him on his own, no way!”

Ben stepped forward, having an idea. “Why don’t we take turns?” he said. “Three of us can go now, two stay here, and we swap over?”

“Yeah,” Bev smiled at him in thanks, patting Richie’s back. “See? Why don’t we do that? You need to have a shower, Richie.”

Bill nudged him with a smile and said, “Besides, imagine when Eddie wakes up and s-sees you still c-covered in sewer crap.”

Mike laughed, “He’d be livid.”

“He’d probably get the nurse to hose you down.” Ben said with a grin, as they all laughed at the thought.

Even Richie put on a small smile, knowing there was a high chance Eddie would do such a thing. But then his stupid brain decided to make him think of Eddie not even waking up, of the surgery going wrong, or him dying on the table because he’d lost too much blood. What if he didn’t pull through this? He saw the looks on the nurses and doctor’s faces when they’d brought him in, Eddie was close to dying, what if they couldn’t keep him alive?

Richie suddenly let out a sob, lurching forward in his seat to put his face in his hands. He cried like he’d never cried before, his whole body shaking uncontrollably, his palms practically jabbing into his eyes. His friends comforted him, each of them hugging him, not knowing what else to do. They’d never seen Richie breakdown so much as he was at that moment, but they knew exactly why.

“It’ll be okay, Richie.” Bev said to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Eddie’s strong, he’ll pull through this.”

“He’s not going to give up.” Bill agreed, clutching in Richie’s hand. “He’s just got you back, he’s not going to lose that chance again.”

Richie sniffed loudly, rubbing his hands down his face, scrubbing at the skin to be rid of the tears. He’d looked awful before, but he couldn’t imagine how bad he looked now, his eyes were even stinging from all the crying. Taking a deep breath, and leaning back in the chair, his friends still holding onto him for comfort, Richie nodded slowly and slipped his glasses back on.

“You’re right.” He croaked, voice sounding as rough as sandpaper. “He’ll be okay.”

He had to be. Like Bill had said, they’d only just found one another again, it couldn’t be the end for them. Pennywise had gotten what he’d wanted, he’d taken Richie’s fears and used them against him, but Eddie was stronger than It, he would pull through like he had all the other times he’d been hit down. The Losers were positive Eddie would be okay, so he had to be too. For Eddie’s sake.

“You okay?” Ben asked, as Richie seemed to calm down, just a couple of stray tears slipping down his cheeks.

Richie nodded, “I’m fine. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Richie.” Mike smiled, rubbing his back. “You can’t keep it all in.”

Richie snorted, shaking his head. “I probably look like a drowned sewer rat, huh?”

The losers laughed, as Richie ran a hand through his mucky hair, and tried to avert his gaze from the splatters of blood on his jeans. Bill suddenly stood, holding out a hand to his friend, and putting on an encouraging smile.

“Let’s go first,” he said, “Mike and I w-will come with you, that alright guys?”

Ben and Bev nodded, Mike getting up himself to stand beside Bill. Richie gave in with a sigh, and clapped his hands in the other mans, letting him yank him off the chair. He sent a lazy wave at Bev and Ben who stayed in their spots, shuffling his way out of the waiting room, not staying around for anymore chit chat, because the sooner he got to the townhouse and showered, the sooner he could return to the hospital, to Eddie.

As he walked out of the door, he couldn’t help but look down the long corridor where they’d wheeled Eddie through not long ago, wondering what was happening behind those closed doors. Wishing he could let Eddie know that he was here, he’d be waiting. Before he could have another meltdown, Bill and Mike appeared on both sides, taking him by the arm to lead him down the other way, knowing if Richie stayed there any longer he definitely would change his mind. Richie said nothing as they took him through the brightly lit building, into the fresh air, and over to Mike’s car in the parking lot.

As they got to it, Richie automatically went for the backseat, hand on the door handle. He was stopped by Bill rapidly seizing his wrist, looking up at him dejectedly. “You can take the front seat, Richie.”

The comedian frowned in misunderstanding, not knowing why Bill would want to sit there when he’d always liked taking shotgun during car rides when they were kids. It’s why Richie had gone straight for the back. And it wasn’t until he was getting into the front seat next to Mike, that he realised why Bill had stopped him.

His stare had wandered to the rear-view mirror and seen Bill looking down at something, expression dejected as he’d quickly tore his gaze away. He hesitantly turned around to look behind him, eyes landing on the blood stain that covered the edge of the seat, standing out like a sore thumb. Bill and Mike kept quiet as Richie sat back, not wanting to look at it any longer. His friends thankfully didn’t say anything as Mike started the car, and was pulling out of the hospital a lot calmer than his earlier driving.

Halfway there, and Richie felt anxious, gripping in his trousers and biting on his bottom lip, partially because he was still in disbelief about what was happening, and mainly because he wanted to get in the shower, get out and go back to the hospital as quick as humanly possible. As he was running his hands along his baggy jeans, his fingers slid over a bump in his pocket, making him stop in wonder, until it clicked in his mind what it was.

Shoving his hand into the pocket, he carefully took out the old inhaler that had been sitting there the entire day, and had been with him throughout everything. Richie rolled it around in his hands, tracing his thumb over the unreadable ink smudge on its side, wondering if it once had Eddie’s name and address scrolled across it. He clutched in the piece of plastic, and moved his gaze out the window, thinking that this time the inhaler hadn’t brought him any luck.

Once Mike had pulled the car up to the pavement across from the townhouse, Richie was out of there like a shot, just about sprinting across the road and up the stone steps. He burst through the front door, not bothering to shut it as he heard his friends behind him, and made his way up the stairs, taking them two at a time. As he strolled down the hallway towards his room, his footsteps slowed, until he came to his door, standing outside it as he stared at the handle like it would bite him if he touched it. Slowly, he reached for the doorknob, and pushed it open.

Richie stood by the door to his room for a while, gaping around the place and seeing one of Eddie’s suitcases he’d snuck in there the night before, his shirt strewn across it. Their pyjamas were thrown carelessly on the floor, discarded in their heated moment, and the bed was still unmade in their rush to leave that morning. Richie slowly scuffled his feet across the floor and into the bathroom, his every move like a sloth. He put the shower on, stood back, and began to strip.

His body ached and protested as he shimmied out of his trousers, carefully pulling out Eddie’s inhaler from his pocket and laying it on the countertop, his ribs stinging still as he let his shirt slip off his shoulders, staring at the crimson stains on the material, trying not to think about how they got there. It didn’t help when he turned around to face the mirror over the sink, finally being able to see just how he looked. Richie looked like death warmed up, like he’d been dragged through hell and back. His hair was sticking up all over the place, glasses cracked in one corner, and skin so dirty he looked like a chimney sweep.

Then there was the blood. Not only was it speckled on one of his glasses’ lens, but there were streaks of it painted across his face, from when the clown had pierced through Eddie’s shoulder. There was a layer of it across his lips, dried and fading, from the last time he’d kissed Eddie down in the sewer, before he’d left him alone, and bleeding out on the ground.

Richie touched his fingers to his lips, running them along the chapped skin. But he quickly snapped himself out of it, and almost clumsily stepped into the bathtub, pulling the curtain across, and bit by bit started to let the hot water cascade down his body, shutting his eyes in bliss. It felt good, so good, the warmth piercing him and waking him up a little, relaxing his muscles and healing his bruised skin. He could moan from the feeling of getting clean, scrubbing away the horrid memories of that day, washing away Pennywise and the fear that came with him.

Richie’s eyes flew open then, that exact fear reminding him of Eddie. His eyes trailed to the stream of dirt and blood running off his body, and into the bath, flowing like a river into the drain. He’d tried so hard to block out the memories as he stepped into the shower, seeing his blood-stained clothing, the state of his face, the crimson water beneath his feet, it was all too much. Once again he couldn’t stop himself from breaking down, he let out a loud sob, covering his eyes with his palms, as he sank down and fell onto his backside.

Richie cried hysterically, gasping for air, as he curled in on himself, running his hands into his hair and grabbing it in his fists tightly. So this is what a panic attack felt like. “Please.” He begged to whoever was listening, “Please, please d-don’t take him from me. _Please_.”

The comedian sat there in the bathtub, under the cooling water, for what felt like a long time, crying to himself and mumbling Eddie’s name over and over, like it would somehow make him appear. Like he’d always taught Eddie, he breathed in and out deeply, trying desperately to calm himself down. He jumped when he heard a knock from the main door, Mike’s voice calling out softly. Richie sniffed, taking a deep breath and rubbing his eyes, noticing how his hands were trembling.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” He shouted back to his friend, voice crackling.

Mike gave a short answer, as Richie took a deep breath, exhaling heavily, trying to calm down his breathing. With some difficulty after he’d gotten over the worst, he pulled himself up off the bottom of the tub, legs wobbling like jelly. He stood there for a few seconds, gaining his composure, rubbing his hands down his face again to snap himself out of it. He kept repeating to himself he had to stay strong, for Eddie, he needed to be, to take care of him when this was all over with.

Knowing his hair was probably still coated in thick dirt and grime, Richie quickly shampooed it all out, rinsing himself off as best as he could, sighing quietly as he finally felt his body relax. Within minutes the comedian had gotten out of the shower, towel dried his hair and went into the bedroom to chuck some clean clothes on, glad that he’d brought a spare set of glasses with him to put on too. After picking up Eddie’s clothes, and laying them neatly on the bed, Richie hurriedly left the room and made his way downstairs where Mike and Bill were waiting patiently.

“Okay?” Was all Bill asked, knowing Richie wouldn’t want to talk much, which he didn’t.

Richie nodded in response, not lingering around at all, as he went straight for the front door and made his way to the car. Bill and Mike followed closely, still not saying a word, which Richie was utterly grateful for. This time as Richie got into the car, he didn’t once look back at the seat, knowing what was stained into the fabric, instead he kept his head facing forward and counted down the seconds to when they’d arrive at the hospital.

Once they got there, Richie was flying out of the car, and didn’t wait for his friends as he made his way inside. He’d memorised the way back easily, a few corridors, and double doors later, he was back in the same place as earlier, Ben and Bev in the same seats, looking just as exhausted and dirty.

“Richie!” Ben shot up, “Hey.”

“Anything?” Richie asked, looking from Ben to Bev for answers.

“Nothing.” Bev answered, as she too stood. She headed straight for the older man who sighed in defeat, wishing he’d at least gotten some kind of answer. “Are you feeling any better?”

Richie hummed, running a hand through his partially damp hair, “Yeah. Yeah, thanks.”

“Good.” Bev smiled thoughtfully, putting an arm round him. “Go sit down, get some rest. Maybe try and take a nap?”

“I can’t,” Richie murmured, doing as Bev suggested, taking the closest seat to the door, “I can’t sleep until I know he’s okay.”

Bev and Ben shared a knowing look, about to say something before Bill and Mike turned up, joining them in the waiting room.

“Hey,” Mike greeted the other two, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Ben said, “All okay with you?”

Bill nodded, “All done. You g-guys can go. Any n-news?”

“No.” Ben said quietly, trying not to speak too loud in front of Richie, although he wasn’t that far away. “It’s been pretty quiet around here.”

The two nodded in understanding, as they all took a look over at Richie. The comedian was leaning forward in the chair, head in his hands, being completely silent. They couldn’t imagine what was going through his head, the emotions he was probably still holding in, the fear and anxiety building up the longer Eddie was behind those double doors.

“We’ll get going then,” Bev broke the silence, wanting to leave so they could get back. “We were thinking of picking up some food on the way back, do you guys want anything?”

“Yeah, sure.” Bill said, moving past Mike to take a seat next to Richie. “H-hey, Richie, Bev and Ben are p-picking up food later, do you w-want anything specific?”

Richie didn’t answer, he simply shook his head and stayed where he was. Bill gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, not pushing him for an answer.

“Just grab us whatever you can then, guys.” Mike said to the pair, as they nodded and said their goodbyes to the group for now. “See you later.”

“Yeah,” Ben said quietly, “Won’t be long.”

Ben kept his word, and the two didn’t take more than half hour to get back to the hospital. When they arrived Richie was just about still in the same position, except now he had his head back, and eyes shut, as Bill and Mike sat nearby and tried to get a short nap in. They’d ended up getting some burgers and fries from the nearest diner, along with some snacks from the corner shop, knowing they’d be there for quite some time.

They all stuck in to the food like they had been starved for weeks, rejoicing in the taste of the juicy burgers and fatty fries. Except for Richie, who took some urging from the others to have some, and in the end they were just grateful that he’d had a burger at least. He didn’t want to eat, he couldn’t, feeling too anxious and sick, even when his stomach began to rumble in protest.

“That was much needed.” Bev sighed, as she threw her rubbish into the bag on the table.

“Yeah,” Bill agreed, tossing back a bottle of lemonade. “Didn’t realise how hungry I was.”

“Me neither.” Ben said, turning to Richie. “How are you feeling, Richie?”

Richie nodded, “Good.”

“Did you have enough?” Mike asked him, noticing he’d just about finished his burger with some difficulty. “Want some fries?”

“Nah,” Richie huffed, throwing his serviette into the bin. “I’m good.”

They didn’t bother him any further, instead, they cleared their mess and disposed of it all in the bins in the corridor, settling down into the plastic chairs as the television played quietly in the background. The Losers stayed that way for the rest of the day, all assembled together in the small waiting room, chatting quietly to one another, figuring out what they’d be telling the police and doctors when they came around to it, coming up with a solid plan that would for sure not make them sound like a bunch of crazies.

Richie had hardly spoken the entire time. He either sat in the corner and gazed back and forth from the doorway to the television, or fell asleep for five minutes, because he just couldn’t keep his eyes open. It was driving him insane, sitting there waiting, wondering how long it would take to find out what’s happened to the man he loved, how long it would take for him to see him again. It had been hours, it was almost evening time, and still, nothing.

That was until Bill was telling them about the new book he was writing, and in walked the head surgeon, in his fancy, flowing doctor’s coat and an unreadable expression. Richie practically dove off his seat, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to meet the doctor by the entrance. The others gathered around too, holding their breaths, waiting for the doctor to say something.

He smiled at them in greeting, and turned to Richie. “Are you Eddie Kaspbrak’s acquaintances?”

“Yeah,” Richie said, voice gravelly. “I’m his boyfriend.”

“Great,” the doctor smiled even bigger, “Eddie has come out of surgery not long ago, and is doing fine.”

The Losers all let out a heavy breath, sighing and laughing in utter relief at the news. Richie’s legs just turned to jelly, and his whole body felt like it was floating, he had to stop himself from collapsing on the spot, because Eddie was okay, he was alive and well, and Richie felt such relief that he could pass out.

“Richie?” Bill gripped in his friend’s shoulder, grinning up at him. “Richie, Eddie’s okay, h-he’s going to be okay.”

Richie let Bill bring him into a hug, and couldn’t hold himself back, he wept into the other man’s shoulder, this time crying out of pure happiness. The other Losers came in close, putting their arms around each other, and just smiling and laughing softly, suddenly feeling another heavy weight lifted off their shoulders. The doctor smiled to himself, taking a few steps back to give them space, waiting patiently.

Richie was the first to stand back once he’d ran out of tears, sniffling loudly, and rubbing them from his eyes for the umpteenth time that day. “Shit,” he murmured, “My eyes have one hell of a leak today.”

The group of friends laughed at the comedian’s joke, the first one he’d told since probably before the whole ordeal at Neibolt, and boy did it feel fantastic to have the old Richie back to normal again. Richie gave out a heavy sigh, wiping his cheeks with his sleeve.

“You okay, honey?” Bev said softly, squeezing his arm gently.

Richie nodded, “Yeah, yeah, way better than a few minutes ago.”

The doctor coughed deeply, gaining the attention of the others. He apologized for the interruption, before explaining Eddie’s condition further. “Mr. Kaspbrak got through the surgery, he was very lucky as he was pierced just above his lung, we managed to close his wound, but he has lost a lot of blood. I can’t be a hundred percent certain, but he will probably take a few days to wake up, we’ve made him as comfortable as we can and will keep a close eye on his improvement.”

Richie nodded again, rubbing his hands together in eagerness, wanting nothing more than to go to Eddie right that second, “How uh… how long will it take for him to get better?”

“Oh,” The doctor hummed, “Well, his wound was pretty great, it went straight through his shoulder, it took quite a lot of work to be able to close it up, I’d say it will fully heal within a few weeks, but the pain might carry on for longer due to the muscle damage. I suggest he gets some therapy at the hospital whilst he’s here, just to help with the pain.”

“Yeah,” Richie said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. “Yeah, okay, thanks Doc, thank you.” He said genuinely, holding out his hand to shake the other mans in gratitude.

“You’re more than welcome.” The doctor smiled warmly, “If you have any questions, please don’t be afraid to ask. Mr. Kaspbrak has his own room, but for now we can only allow one visitor at a time I’m afraid.”

“Oh, no that’s fine,” Bev spoke up, already pushing Richie forward. “Richie?”

The comedian looked at his friends one by one, and nodded, “Uh, yeah, thanks guys.” He said, not knowing what else to say really. “Um… lead the way, Doc.”

Eddie’s doctor wasted no more time and turned to make his way back down the corridor, Richie hot on his heels. They went through the double doors where Eddie had disappeared hours ago, sauntered down the long, never-ending hallway, and took a left just before they reached the end. Richie was led past a few rooms that had their doors shut, where other patients were healing, until they finally came to an abrupt stop at the last door on the right.

“He’s in here.” The doctor gestured with a hand, “Don’t be alarmed by the equipment and such, it’s to help with his recovery.”

Richie nodded in understanding, knowing that he would be upset by the sight either way. He didn’t know what to expect when he opened that door, but he knew he wasn’t going to like seeing Eddie in that condition. So, without letting anymore precious time pass, Richie gave the doctor another handshake of gratitude, and opened up the door to Eddie’s room, slowly and quietly making his way inside. The room wasn’t a big one, just as small as his bedroom he’d had as a kid, the blinds were shut and lights were gratefully dimmed enough to keep Eddie in a relaxing sleep. Besides the bed, the only other furniture in the room were three chairs, a bedside table and a television on the wall. It wasn’t luxurious, but it was comfortable, something Richie knew Eddie would be appreciative in a place that would undoubtably make him extremely anxious.

When Richie’s eyes landed on Eddie himself, laying sound asleep in the hospital bed, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of overjoy, he looked pale and exhausted even in his unconsciousness, but his chest rose and fell slowly, and that was a blessing in itself. The comedian made his way over to his boyfriend, going around the other side of the bed and taking a seat in the chair closest to him, shuffling it even closer to be able to take Eddie’s limp hand in his own. He could see now that Eddie must have been cleaned, as the dirt and grime was almost cleared from his skin, but small gashes and grazes dotted his face, and a barely visible purple bruise decorated his neck where the leper must have pressed down too hard.

Richie noticed the brand new bandage on Eddie’s cheek that was put there by Bowers’s knife, and the tube stuck in his nose that was probably supplying the hypochondriac with oxygen, there was also the tube sticking into Eddie’s hand that led up to the bag of blood on the IV stand beside the bed, that Richie knew for certain would be his boyfriend’s worst nightmare. Let alone the huge bandage that was wrapped around his torso and shoulder, where his dreadful injury was healing beneath, a slight blood stain just about seeping through the material.

But, Richie kept telling himself, Eddie was going to be okay. He was alive and kicking, and in a few days he’ll be awake, telling Richie to change his horrendous shirt, or to check that the room was clean enough to eat off the floor. The comedian couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at the thought, on the brink of tears once again, as he held Eddie’s hand close to his heart, and reached over with his free one to sweep a lock of Eddie’s hair back into place.

“Hey, Eds.” Richie said, rubbing his thumb gently up and down the younger man’s warm cheek, hopeful Eddie could feel his touch in his sleep. “You gave me quite a scare there, buddy. Don’t do anything that stupid again, you hear?” he smiled, bringing Eddie’s hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles. “I’m right here, okay? I’m going to be here when you wake up, I’m not going anywhere.”

_May 1992_

“ _Ow, ow, ow!”_

_Richie helped Eddie into the waiting room chair as steadily as he could, making sure his injured hand was still held up and out of the way. “Here,” Richie quickly took the seat beside his boyfriend, pulling his hand to rest on his lap. “Just lay it there, keep moving it and it’ll hurt more, you dumbass.”_

_Eddie glared at the older boy, “Easy for you to say, shitbrains! You’re not the one with a bleeding hand!” he screeched, whimpering as Richie adjusted the temporary piece of cloth tied around the cut. “I’m never going to that bridge again!”_

_Richie snorted, “You and me both.”_

_“Mr. Kaspbrak?”_

_Five minutes later and he was being called into the nurse’s office by one of the ladies who regularly checked on him due to his mother’s paranoia, sighing in absolute joy that he didn’t have to sit there any longer than that, because quite frankly his hand felt like it was on fire. Richie kept his wounded hand in his as they got up and followed the nurse into her small room, closing the door behind them, as Eddie took a seat on the bed, Richie standing close by._

_“What happened here then, Eddie?” the nurse smiled at the boy, taking his hand to inspect it. “Your mother know about this?”_

_Eddie sighed, “No, thank God.” He said, “We were down by the main bridge, I slipped by one of the walls and caught my hand on a rusty nail when I tried to catch myself!”_

_Richie added, “It’s our make out spot.”_

_“Richie!” Eddie shrieked, glaring daggers at the boy. Richie smiled innocently down at him as the nurse just laughed, thankfully she was one of the few who knew about their relationship, having accidentally walked in on the two holding hands and getting a little close in that exact room when Eddie had a flu shot a while back._

_“Oh,” she hummed, peeling away the cloth to find a deep, angry looking gash in the middle of his palm. “Good to know.” She smiled amusedly, “Rusty doesn’t sound too good though, will have to give you a tetanus shot as your last one was over ten years ago, alright?”_

_Eddie groaned, “I told you,” he said to Richie, “Didn’t I tell you I could catch shit from this!”_

_Richie just shrugged, watching as the nurse grabbed a few things from her cupboard. “Dude, you said your hand would fall off or you’d die from poison.”_

_“I could!”_

_The nurse chuckled at the two as she got to work, dabbing some alcohol on some cotton, “Don’t you worry, Eddie, I’ll make sure your hand doesn’t fall off or you don’t get poisoned.” She sent Richie a sneaky wink, who grinned at her in return._

_Eddie hissed in pain as the antiseptic was applied to his injury, Richie quickly taking his other hand to keep him calm. Eventually Richie had to hold him when the pain got worse from the cleaning, seeing tears about to fall from the younger boy’s eyes, as he whimpered quietly._

_“It’s okay, Eddie.” Richie soothed him, planting a kiss on his head. “She’s wrapping it up, and it’ll be a-okay in no time.”_

_“He’s right,” she agreed, finishing off the wrapping and sealing it tight. “It’ll heal up nicely. You’re very lucky it wasn’t any deeper or you might have had to have stitches. You can take this off say, tomorrow night, just make sure you apply some ointment to help it.”_

_Eddie sighed, pulling his hand protectively to his chest, wishing the day would have gone a lot better than this. Their trip down to the bridge just had to be ruined by his clumsiness, and he just had to end up in one of his most hated places in Derry._

_“Thanks, Jane.” He said to the nurse, as she prepared the next step._

_“No problem, honey. Ready for your shot?”_

_“No.” Eddie frowned, eyes glued to the needle as Jane took it out of its casing, and prepared it. “Do I have to?”_

_“You don’t want to catch rusty nail syndrome, do you?” Richie said so seriously, Eddie had to roll his eyes._

_“You’re not helping, dipshit.”_

_Richie grinned, “That’s a thing you know, makes you turn brown and shit.”_

_“Shut up, Richie.” Eddie deadpanned. But his expression soon changed when he felt his sleeve being rolled up, and a wet ball of cotton being swabbed across his skin. “Oh shit.”_

_Eddie could feel himself start to shake, and the dread wash over him, his entire body covered in goosebumps. He was pretty sure his anxiety was about to kick in, and that, he did not want on top of this._

_“Hey,” Richie snapped him out of it, squeezing his free hand gently, grabbing Eddie by the chin so he could turn his head to face him. “It’s going to be okay, silly. Just look at me, okay?”_

_“I hate this part.” Eddie said quietly. You’d think by now he’d be used to needles, but nope, every time he had one he hated it more and more._

_“I know,” Richie smiled sincerely at him, kissing his forehead quickly. “I’m right here, okay? I’ve got you. I’m not going anywhere.”_

Richie smiled at the man in the bed, knowing that he could talk to him, hold his hand, kiss him, when not long ago he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to do so again. He was about to go off on another conversation and tell Eddie all about the goings-on at Neibolt after he passed out, but that would have to wait a few more minutes, as the door to the room opened and a nurse with the brightest colour of pink hair sneaked in, apologising for her intrusion.

“I have Mr. Kaspbrak’s things.” She said, with a sincere smiled. “We threw his shirt if that’s alright, but we saved the rest of his clothing and what he had with him.”

“Oh,” Richie swiftly got on his feet, meeting the young girl in the middle of the room, taking a plastic bag full of Eddie’s bit-and-bobs. “Thanks, uh, you didn’t have to.”

“It’s no problem,” she smiled brightly, “We wanted him to be comfortable whilst healing up, so put him in hospital trousers after a quick clean. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Sure.” Richie smiled back, watching as she left just as quietly, like the littlest of noises would wake Eddie up.

The comedian was left alone again, the only sound coming from the beeping of the machines attached to Eddie, weirdly comforting, since it signalled the beating of the younger man’s heart. He went to sit in his chair again, pulling it in right up to the bed as it let off an ear-splitting screech.

Richie cringed, “Shit. Sorry, Eds.” He said to the sleeping figure, as it was loud enough to wake the entire floor.

This time, being as quiet as he could, Richie put the bag on his lap and began to open it up, checking to see what state the other man’s clothes were in, because quite frankly they smelt like dead rats and dog shit as soon as he opened it up. Richie scrunched up his nose, wondering how in the hell they didn’t just throw them when they’d stripped them off Eddie’s body. But, when he saw a certain piece of material sticking up from between Eddie’s jeans and jacket, he was glad they hadn’t thrown anything away after all.

Richie hurriedly moved everything out of the way in the bag to get to it, and cautiously pulled it out, tossing the rest of the stuff on the other chair. He smiled widely as he held his own Hawaiian shirt in his hands, the one Eddie had kept all those years since they were seventeen, it was a little dirty and wet, and definitely smelt like something dead, but it was still in once piece. Eddie must have taken it with him down to the sewers, just like Richie had taken the inhaler.

“Hey, Spaghetti Man.” Richie grinned, starting to fold the shirt in his lap. “Looks like they did bring us luck after all, huh?”

With that, he carefully laid the shirt on the bedside table, making a mental note to wash the damn thing when he’d have time. But, most importantly, he took out the inhaler he’d brought with him, and sat it on top of the shirt where it belonged.


	10. The Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a really short, cheesy chapter. Enjoy guys!

For the next few days, Richie was by Eddie’s side, literally. He hadn’t moved from that hospital room, unless he had to grab something from the shop whilst the others were away, needed the toilet down the hall, or to get something he needed back at the townhouse, like clothes. Usually visitors would only be allowed to stay for a few hours a day, but once Bill had worked his magic, and Mike had talked to a doctor he knew personally, Richie was able to basically live in the place, sleeping on the inflatable bed Bev had picked up for him.

Richie probably would have literally glued himself to the floor if they’d not let him stay anyway, that was the plan. But, he’d been lucky, and could watch over Eddie every minute of the day, checking his vitals, his temperature, making sure his IVs were in place, he was a professional by the time Eddie did wake up one afternoon.

It had just gone lunchtime, the Losers spending it in Eddie’s room eating takeaway pizza that Bill had snuck in, along with a big, metal box Mike said he’d been meaning to show them soon. Turned out, it was full of pictures of the group when they were kids, and little mementos not one of them, except Mike, had remembered until that very moment.

“Holy shit, Mike.” Richie laughed, as Mike opened the box to show them what was inside, sharing out the photos and treasures to each of them to see. “Look at this,” he said as he was handed a drawing he himself had done. “Fuck, I was a regular Picasso.”

The Losers laughed as he held it up for them to see, on it was two stickmen, one skinny guy with glasses, and the other, well it was quite obvious it was Eddie’s mom. You could also tell by the writing above that said ‘I love Mrs. K forever.’

Richie grinned as he remembered when he’d done that, in the middle of History class, around the time they were in ninth grade, and he had slipped it onto Eddie’s desk who had sent him the evilest death glare. “Eddie wouldn’t make out with me that day.”

Mike chuckled, “Good to know, Richie.” He said, showing Bill a picture of the two of them down at the barrens as he spoke to the comedian, “I actually found that in your house the day after you left.”

“No shit?” Richie hummed, putting it to the side for safe keeping. “Must have kept it for obvious reasons, I mean, that’s worth at least fifty bucks, right?”

“Keep dreaming, Richie.” Ben smiled, as he and Bev looked through a stack of photos. “Hey guys, look at this one.” He addressed them all, passing a polaroid along the group. “That was the day before Bev left, our last time together as the Losers club.”

“Wow.” Bill smiled, thinking back to the day. They’d spent most of their time down by the Barrens, swimming and snacking on candy and biscuits, messing around on the grass. “Look at us, we’re a m-mess.”

Richie took it from Bill across the bed, grinning as he took in the picture of the seven of them, all in sopping clothes, covered in mud and grass, looking like the happiest kids in Derry. Ben and Bev were sitting on the grass in front making silly faces, Mike had Bill in a headlock as Stan stood next to them laughing, and then there was Richie and Eddie on Stan’s other side. Richie was giving his boyfriend a piggy-back, the goofiest grin on his face, as Eddie, with his arms wrapped around his neck, leant down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“That was a good day.” Richie said, peering over at Eddie. “Right, Eds?” he said to the sleeping figure, holding it up like he was awake and able to see. “Even you got a bit dirty.”

“That’s because you rolled around with him in the mud.” Bev laughed softly.

“I remember how mortified Eddie w-was,” Bill laughed along, seeing the younger boys expression in his mind as clear as day. “You were lucky he w-was in a good m-mood that day.”

“It was all the M and Ms I fed him.” Richie snickered. Sugar was always a genius way to get Eddie to relax and let loose, as much as it made him as hyper as a monkey.

“It was Skittles.”

Richie’s neck snapped around to look at Eddie so fast it hurt like a son of a bitch, but that was the last thing on his mind, as he could have sworn he heard the other man speak. The other Losers must have heard it too, because they were all looking at Eddie like he’d grown an extra head. Eddie had his eyes open, well, they were heavy and unfocused from all that sleep, but he was awake and staring right at Richie.

Then he said, voice quiet and raspy, “You gave me skittles, not M and Ms.”

The Losers dove into action the second Eddie had finished talking. Richie was up and out of his chair like he’d been shot out of a canon, instantly going to clutch in Eddie’s hand, as the others gathered around him, with the biggest smiles on their faces.

“Eds!” Richie laughed, so overjoyed at seeing his boyfriend’s eyes, hearing his voice.

The edges of Eddie’s lips upturned, as he squeezed Richie’s hand back as much as he could. “Hey, fuckface.”

Richie grinned, using his free hand to run through Eddie’s mop of hair. “Hey, shithead.”

Eddie gazed around the room, seeing the small bed strewn on the floor, the chairs scattered around the place, and the pile of food and snacks on a table at the end of his bed. It looked like their hideout, minus the dirt for a floor, unsteady pillars holding the ceiling up, and the god awful smell of mud. He smiled up at the Losers, as they each smiled back, Bev almost in tears at seeing her friend awake.

“Did you do it?” Eddie asked.

They didn’t need to ask him what he meant, “No,” Richie answered, kissing the back of his hand. “ _We_ did it.”

“Yeah,” Bill agreed with Richie. “If it wasn’t for your idea, Eddie, w-we don’t know what would have happened.”

“See,” Richie said, “We did need you down there.”

Eddie hummed, thinking back to how he almost chickened out and had the thought of turning around more than once. But he didn’t, because his friends believed in him, Richie believed in him, and in the end he’d plucked up the courage and fought back. He almost died in the process, but hey, Pennywise was dead, he was alive, and he could smell food.

“Any chance there’s some food left?” he asked, trying not to move his bad shoulder as it all came back to him, not to mention it stung like crazy. “I’m fucking starving.”

The Losers couldn’t hold back a laugh at that random statement, and Richie, he laughed the loudest.

Seconds after Eddie had asked for food, Bill and Mike had left to go and get the doctor, Bev and Ben clearing up the place quickly, whilst Richie filled Eddie in on how long he’d been out and what had happened. The youngest Loser was shocked to find out he’d passed out just before they killed Pennywise, and they had to carry him, bleeding to death, all the way out, and then drive him to the hospital as his lips turned blue and skin turned a deadly grey.

He could recall feeling a lot of pain, hearing loud noises at the back of his mind now and then, and sometimes he could hear Richie’s voice distinctly, but for most of it, Eddie couldn’t remember a thing. Which Richie was glad for, the Losers went through a lot getting him there, and it would forever stick in their minds, so they couldn’t imagine what Eddie would have gone through if he’d been conscious through it all.

After the doctor had done a fast check over on Eddie, making sure he was in tip-top shape and taking out some equipment he was plugged into which was now unnecessary since he was awake, he left them alone again, promising to be back in the hour to see if everything was going okay. The only thing was, he’d dropped a bombshell on him too, which Eddie was not happy about.

“I am _not_ staying here that long!”

“Eddie, baby...”

“Don’t ‘Eddie baby’ me!” he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, before realising that wasn’t a good idea, as the pressure and sudden movement shot a spark of brilliant pain through his injury and right across his chest. “Fuck!” he hissed, inhaling deeply at the agonising feeling.

“Eddie!” Richie growled, arms flailing as he wanted to help Eddie, but didn’t know where to put his hands without hurting him. “Jesus, you’ve got a fucking hole in your shoulder, be careful!”

“I know that, asshole!” Eddie growled back, laying back into the pillow with a heavy sigh. “Doesn’t mean I have to stay here for a month!”

“He didn’t say that!” Richie argued back, deciding to sit on the edge of Eddie’s bed. “He said it depends how fast you heal, and how quickly your pain goes and all that jazz!”

“He said a month would be likely!”

“Which isn’t for sure!”

“But he said with all the therapy...”

“If you do all that every day, you’ll be good to go within a couple of weeks!”

“How do you...” Eddie suddenly stopped, noticing the room had gone very silent. He looked around and saw that they were the only ones now in the room. “Where’d everyone go?”

A few minutes later once they’d decided on shutting up, they got a text from Bev telling them they’d left to leave them to argue like the married couple that they were, and that they’d be back in a couple of hours. So Richie took that time to have a trip to the bathroom, and pick up some drinks for himself and Eddie, Richie took his spot in the chair once he went back and handed him his slushie. Eddie beamed with excitement, not having had one of those for years, although the doctor did say he should stay away from too much sugar, he almost died for Christ sake, he needed a slushie.

“Thanks,” he said, diving straight into it, slurping away. “God that tastes good.”

Richie chuckled, recalling a thirteen-year-old Eddie being just as excited over the drink, since his mother never let him have one. They’d always have to sneakily buy one when they went visited the town. “Take it easy there, champ. You’re in pain, remember?”

Eddie snorted, “Doesn’t mean I can’t drink.”

Richie just rolled his eyes, “How are you still so destructive even when you’re high on drugs and bed ridden?”

“It’s _because_ I’m high on drugs, dumbass.”

“Oh, yeah.” Richie nodded, not thinking about that one. “Your mom would be proud.”

Eddie suddenly stopped guzzling down his drink, and stared wide eyed into space. There’s one thing he’d totally forgot since he’d stepped foot in Derry, and that one thing was probably freaking out in her living room thinking he was in a gutter somewhere, or worse, ran off with Richie to another country.

“My mom.”

“My wife?” Richie asked, sipping on his coffee calmly.

Eddie smacked him on the arm on instinct, flinching as the pain in his shoulder intensified at the action. “Fuck sake, Richie.” He groaned, pitching forward to clutch at his bandaged shoulder.

Richie clumsily put down his coffee on the nearest surface, which happened to be the windowsill, helping Eddie to settle back down. “Eddie, for God sake, man! How many times do I have to tell you to stop moving!”

“Well, stop saying stupid shit!” Eddie screeched, settling into the soft, comfy pillows, and almost, _almost_ throwing a hissy fit as Richie took his slushie and put it on the table. “I was drinking that.”

“Tough,” Richie said, sticking his tongue out. “Now, come on, what’s wrong?”

Eddie sighed, trying to take deep breaths to lessen the throbbing pain he was currently experiencing just behind his ribs. “I told her I’d let her know how I was doing, I haven’t spoken to her since I left and now she’s probably freaking the fuck out.” He said, voice rising higher after each word, as he slowly started to freak out himself. “And if she finds out about this, she’s going to go apeshit! Then she’s going to want to come here, and I don’t want her to, Rich, she’ll be all over me and-,”

“Woah, there, cowboy.” Richie laughed, taking Eddie’s hands in his before he decided to move again. “Hey, it’s all good, Eds. I’ve given her a call.”

Eddie snapped his gaze to his boyfriend, looking at him with such confusion, “What?”

“I rang your mom.” Richie said with a proud smile, because he knew Eddie would go nuts when he realised his mom didn’t know about this, and he was a damn good boyfriend for talking to Mrs. Kaspbrak who hated his guts. He deserved a medal for even dialling the woman’s number. “She was so happy to hear my voice, we were on the phone for hours talking about which type of flowers we wanted for our wedding and-,”

“Richie,” Eddie huffed, “I swear to God if you don’t get to the point, I’m going to throw you out the window.”

“Sorry, honey.” Richie grinned, continuing. “Okay, so I told her you were in hospital because of an accident at the old house, of course she was going crazy and screaming down the phone at me, telling me it was all my fault and shit, but you don’t have to worry because I persuaded her to stay home. Told her a little white lie that you weren’t that hurt, and by also reminding her of the dangers of flying and how many germs an airport has. You’re welcome.”

“Wha…” Eddie was gobsmacked. “You… really? She’s not coming?”

“Nope,” Richie shrugged. “Besides, I told her you were in Bangor hospital, so she’ll go to the wrong one anyway.”

Eddie stared at his boyfriend in disbelief for a while, wondering how Richie was still the same, caring, loving boyfriend he’d known all those years ago. He really hadn’t changed. And Eddie didn’t know what else to do but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Richie chuckled, as Eddie gripped in his hands tightly.

“Ow,” Eddie said in between laughs, as he tried to stop, since apparently even laughing a little wasn’t good for the muscles in his chest. “I don’t know… I just… you’re the fucking best.”

Richie shrugged, and said in a serious tone, “I know, I’m fucking brilliant.”

Eddie grinned, “I would kiss you but I think the pain killers are wearing off and I can’t move.”

Richie was straight on it, up and out of his chair like a shot. Eddie couldn’t help but laugh softly at his idiot boyfriend, who carefully sat himself on the edge of the bed, and lent forward. Their lips met, and Richie thought it was the best damn kiss he’d ever had. Their lips were slightly chapped, Eddie’s were dry, and his had a few cuts, but tough shit, it was the first time he’d kissed Eddie since they were down in the sewers and he was bleeding out on the floor, so sue him if he felt a little overwhelmed.

“Woah,” Richie sighed, as he pulled away. “Your lips feel like sandpaper.”

Eddie flicked him on the nose, “Fuck off.”

Luckily for Eddie, he got to finish his slushie. Their conversation turned into one about the Losers and how they were coping after the death of the killer clown, Richie explaining Bev and Ben’s plans to move in with each other at some point in LA, Bill going home to the same state to his wife who he was pretty sure would be filing for a divorce sometime soon, then there was Mike who had always dreamed of going to Florida, and finally had no excuse not to. Once that was out of the way, Richie very calmly, very nervously slipped in a question.

“So,” he said, avoiding eye contact. “What’s your uh… you going back to New York after all this?”

Eddie seemed to be confused by the question at first, then he had to think about it, because he didn’t really know the answer. The truth was, he didn’t want to go back to New York. He didn’t want to go back to living with his overbearing mother, or go back to his boring job, or live in a city that gave him colds in the winter every other week. The truth was, he wanted to be wherever Richie was. He was back in his life again, and this time, he didn’t want to let him go.

“I um… I don’t really want to.” He said truthfully, eyeing up Richie who looked over at him then, eyes widening, and a passing look of relief. “I mean… I obviously have a life there and shit but, it sucks, and…” he paused, tangling his fingers with Richies. “…I want to be with you, wherever that is.”

Richie let out a huge sigh, like he’d been holding his breath in anticipation the entire time. He was nervous beyond belief that Eddie was going to say to him that yes, he was going to go back to New York, go back to his old life, and just have one of those sucky, long distant relationships or some shit. Thank God his initial thoughts were wrong.

“Thank fuck.” He breathed out, giving Eddie’s hand a squeeze.

“I wasn’t kidding when we were in the sewers, Rich.” Eddie reassured him. “I really do want to live with you, I mean, if it’s not too fast or?”

“What?” Richie snorted, “Don’t be stupid, Eds, we’ve been dating for like thirty-two years now, I’d say we’re going way too slow.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, a smile threatening to break out at his boyfriend’s antics. “So, does that mean I can come home with you?”

Richie scoffed liked he’d said the most craziest thing in the world, “Honey, you can even have my bed, change the wallpaper in the living room, throw out all my junk food, I don’t care!” he grinned, leaning over to kiss Eddie with a loud smack on the forehead. “I want more than anything for you to move in with me.”

Eddie smiled, before it slipped back into a frown as he recalled something from earlier, “We’re still not getting a Pomeranian though.”

Richie was taken by surprise, laughing at the random declaration, “Damn, you sure? Could always find out where that ugly bastard down in the sewers went?”

“Fuck you.” Eddie said simply, “If I see one of those things again, I’m out of there.”

True to their word, the Losers did turn up after a couple of hours went by, just missing a visit from Eddie’s doctor. More contented than they’d been in days, the group of friends strolled into the room like there was a party happening. They made themselves at home instantly, Bev already decorating the place with fresh flowers, and Mike and Ben bringing enough spare blankets for Eddie to turn him into a burrito, then Bill pulled out some comic books and DVDs for them to watch when they come visit.

There was also the box full of trinkets that Mike had left behind, safely sitting on the windowsill. As soon as they’d all settled down, and Richie had helped Eddie sit up a little, which was way more painful than he’d anticipated, the Losers once again gathered around the bed to take a look at the rest of the stuff, this time with Eddie.

The first one they showed him was the one of them all gathered together by the Barrens, which Mike had promised to copy for them all to have one. Then, Richie had shown Eddie his ‘masterpiece’ of his mom, saying he’d put it on show right smack bang in the middle of his fridge for all guests to see. Which Eddie then said he’d burn the thing down, which Richie believed. Mike then pulled out some more, ones of them hanging out at the park, having sleepovers, helping Mike out with the animals at his farm, some of them were snippets of them individually, whilst others had Stan with Ben whilst bird watching, or Bev and Bill trying to cross the river with nothing on their feet.

Many of them were pictures of just Richie and Eddie. Mike would instantly hand them over to the couple, who reminisced on the time every single one of them were taken. There was one when they were thirteen, Eddie still in his cast, looking like he was about to beat the living shit out of Richie who had snuck up behind him and lifted him off the ground by the waist. One was of them a few months later, sitting in the grass outside Mike’s house, Richie placing a daisy chain crown on Eddie’s head as the younger boy grinned elatedly.

One picture was of the two enjoying themselves at a carnival, another of them laying across Richie’s sofa with Eddie strewn over him like a blanket, one of their favourites was of the two of them in Richie’s house right before prom, the couple dressed in matching suites as they stood straight with the biggest grins on their faces.

“Fuck,” Richie laughed, recalling the exact moment. “My mom wouldn’t stop crying when Mike took that and showed her.”

“I remember.” Eddie chuckled, “She was a mess.”

Richie nodded, handing Eddie the picture to add it to their growing pile on the bedside table. “She gave me a good talking to that night, you know?”

“Really?” Eddie hummed, “About what?”

“Being a gentleman to you.” Richie grinned, as Eddie let out a laugh. Truth was, Mrs. Tozier had never seen just how much of a gentleman Richie could be around Eddie when he needed to be, she only got to see his goofy side. Richie liked to keep his Prince Charming side just for Eddie. “Told me to make sure I look after you, like I was going to let Bowers take you away or something!”

Eddie smiled, “Your parents were always good to me, Rich.”

“Yeah,” Richie smiled back, taking his hand in his. “Hey, maybe you can come visit them with me when you’re out, huh?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Eddie nodded, pulling Richie in for a kiss as a promise.

“Hey guys,” Bill leant over the bed to pass them another polaroid, which looked a little more stained and cast-off than the others. “Remember this one?”

Eddie took it from the older man with a tinge of curiosity as to which one he was talking about. And as soon as he laid eyes on the photo, he couldn’t help but grin, because he knew exactly when and where it was taken. Richie leaned over his shoulder to take a look, and too had the same reaction, laughing even.

“Well shit,” Richie put an arm around Eddie, being careful of his injury. “I’m pretty sure that’s the same day we became a thing, Eds.”

“Sure is.” Bill smiled toothily. He remembered too, because he was the one that had asked Mike to borrow his camera, so he could snap a memory of the two being ridiculously cute just hours after they’d confessed their feelings for one another. “It’s just after w-we had some fun in the lake.”

Richie nodded, recalling that day like it was yesterday. Right after Richie and Eddie shared their first kiss, and they’d joined the others in the lake, they’d spent at least two hours in there messing around. They’d played catch with Mike’s football, raced from one side of the lake to the other, splashed around like a bunch of seals, and wrestled on each other’s shoulders. All without managing to wet Eddie’s cast, thanks to Richie of course.

Then as they’d all walked out with their wet feet slapping against the dirt ground, they’d stuck in to Ben’s picnic that he’d brought along. This time, Eddie and Richie sat a little closer, and even held hands, earning much teasing from the rest of the Losers. But, Richie couldn’t care, because by damn was he the happiest kid in Derry from that moment on.

_“Tease as much as you want, Losers!” Richie scorned without a care in the world, tossing a grape right at Bill’s forehead. “You’re all just jealous cos I get to kiss Eddie now and you don’t!” He still couldn’t get over that fact either. In fact, this all felt like a dream._

_Eddie scoffed beside him, blushing like a bride. “Shurup.”_

_“Aw,” Richie snickered, getting on his knees and pinching Eddie’s cheeks between his fingers. “You’re so cute, cute, cute!”_

_“Richie!” Eddie groaned, trying to push the boy away, but it was hopeless._

_The rest of the group of friends laughed as Richie pulled Eddie into his embrace, by wrapping his arms around his neck. The younger boy yelped, complaining about Richie’s stinky breath and dirty hands, but as Richie began planting sloppy kisses all over his face he started to laugh._

_“They’re so adorable.” Bev laughed, as she dug around in her bag and fished out a cigarette. Ben shared a smile with her as she lit it up, taking a long drag. He offered her some potato chips, which she gratefully accepted._

_“Took them long enough.” Mike said, as Bill nudged his side._

_“P-Pass me your camera.” He said, holding out his hand for Mike to give it to him._

_The Losers watched as Bill raised the device to point at the new couple, and took the shot. The camera let off a quiet pop, and two seconds later the polaroid was sliding out of the front. Five of the Losers gathered together to take a look at the outcome of the photo, and couldn’t help but laugh at how sweet it looked, how it was so Richie and Eddie._

Richie stared down at the picture of himself holding Eddie close, his lips pressed against his cheek, as Eddie grinned from ear to ear, clinging to Richie’s arm. His plastered arm was on show, the word Loser with the S crossed out with a red V plain and clear across the front.

Eddie sighed as he leant his head against Richie’s shoulder, wishing they could go back and change what had happened after they were seventeen. But really, everything had turned out perfect anyway. “I think I’ll frame this one.”

“Yeah?” Richie smiled down at the younger man, “I’ve got the perfect spot for it at my place… if that’s… I mean if you still want to…”

Eddie gazed up at him, seeing the look of hope in Richie’s eyes. “Richie, don’t start doubting everything. I still want to.”

Richie burst out into a smile, letting out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding. “Good. Because I’ve already chosen my side of the bed.”

Eddie laughed softly, gesturing with his head for Richie to lean down, which he did. “I love you, you dork.”

“Love you too, you weirdo.” Richie grinned.

They kissed. The Losers cheered. And everything perfect.


	11. The Road Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next two chapters are just filling in the ending... pointless cheesy mush but enjoy none the less
> 
> Warning for the end... there's a tiny bit of NSFW

Two weeks, five days, eleven hours, fifty-two minutes, twelve seconds, and counting. That’s how long Eddie had been trapped in the hospital, his shoulder healing slowly, as he did some lame exercises with his arms and torso to help build his strength. That’s how long he’d been losing his mind, and wanting nothing but to leave with Richie and start their new life together. And today was the day, the day that he’d been waiting for.

That morning the doctor had walked into his room, told him the good news, and minutes later he was signing papers and getting his things ready to leave the hell hole. Luckily, he only had some clothes and toiletries, as Richie had been taking stuff back and forth most days. He felt sorry for Richie as much as himself, he’d been there most of the time too, refusing to leave him even for a day to just go for a walk or go to town to hang out somewhere. But Richie never wanted to, and the Losers had left a couple of weeks back too.

As well as being stuck in a room that stunk of rubber and disinfectant for weeks, he’d been having endless calls from his mother. Eddie ignored her as much as possible, but when he didn’t answer, he’d get an essay length text from her, explaining why he should be taking medicine and not moving an inch from bed, sometimes questioning whether he was still alive. He was actually looking forward to seeing her, just to shut her up, and show her that he wasn’t on death’s door. Not to mention, he couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when Eddie tells her he’d be moving halfway across the country to live with Richie.

Boy was he looking forward to stepping out of those doors.

“You got everything, babe?” Richie asked him, as Eddie slid Richie’s hoodie over his head and picked himself up off the bed. The jumper was so huge on him, he was practically drowning in it.

Wincing a tad at the slight twinge in his shoulder, Eddie nodded. “Think so,” he said, smiling gratefully as Richie put his arm around his waist, taking his bag of clothes from him. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Richie mumbled, as he watched Eddie frown, touching his hand to his chest like he always did when he was uncomfortable. “You okay?”

Eddie nodded again, as Richie stopped them in their tracks. “Yeah, haven’t woken up properly yet, think my muscles are still a bit stiff.”

Richie’s eyebrows shot into his hairline, he opened his mouth to say something back, but Eddie quickly jumped in after realising what he’d said. And it was a perfect opportunity for Richie.

“Make a joke about stiff muscles, and I’m stealing your car and leaving you here.”

Richie shut his trap, smiling innocently. “No idea what you mean.” He said, starting to grin as Eddie rolled his eyes. “Seriously though,” he wiped the smile off his face in an instant, “You in too much pain? Docs given us plenty of pain meds to last you a few more weeks.”

“I’m good,” Eddie shook his head, the thought of taking another tablet that morning made his stomach turn. All he could think of was all those drugs he’d been taking for no reason all his life, and now he just wanted to put it all behind him. “I just want to get out of here, Rich.”

“Your wish is my command, Eds.” Richie said with another smile, slinging Eddie’s bag over his shoulder and leading him out the door.

It took a lot longer than what Eddie would have liked to actually get out. Nurses bombarded him with papers and instructions on how to look after his almost healed wound, his Doctor shook his hand for at least a minute as he wished him luck, and then there were so many winding, long hallways, incredibly bright lights and steep stairs he almost got dizzy by the time they got to the reception.

But as soon as his butt hit the seat of Richie’s rental car, he let out the biggest sigh ever and practically melted into the leather like a blob of butter. This felt good, man did it feel good to smell something other than hospital bedding and whatever that gross smell was that wafted out of the hallways. It also felt good to not be stuck in a bed almost every hour of the day as his muscles slowly went numb and achy, a car seat was a nice welcome to his behind.

“Comfortable?” Richie chuckled, as he got into the driver’s seat and started the car, after setting Eddie’s things into the back. His boyfriend looked like he was in paradise.

“Big time.” Eddie answered him, snuggling further into Richie’s hoodie.

Richie grinned as he watched him, “You’re so cute-,”

“Don’t finish that, or I’ll murder you right here.” Eddie turned to him with a glare, but it only made Richie laugh more.

“Lucky I’m outside a hospital then.”

“Shut up and drive.” Eddie mumbled into the fabric of the jumper.

“You got it, cutie.”

Eddie just scoffed at him this time, giving up. Thankfully Richie didn’t say much on their way back to the townhouse, which Eddie was grateful for, because he was so comfy he almost nodded off. The drive was way too fast, and before he knew it he had to get out of the vehicle and follow Richie into the building across the street.

Just looking at it as he ascended the steps gave him the creeps. Not only that, he didn’t exactly have fond recollections of the place, besides the fact that he’d spent his first night there having a pretty good time with Richie, of course. But, that was outweighed by the memory of sitting in the living room explaining how he saw them all dead in the future, and the whole getting stabbed in the face by a raging, loony, psychopath. That reminded him, the last time he’d seen the bathroom it looked like a crime scene.

“Uh, Richie?” Eddie called to his boyfriend as they went through the front door. The other man spun around, smile vanishing as he saw the look of hesitation on Eddie’s face. “My room… um… when Bowers, you know…”

Richie knew right away what he was getting at. The blood. The small puddle of blood on the bathroom floor from when Bowers had leaked out from the stomach, the droplets of it leading into the bathtub from Eddie’s injury, and the bloody finger marks all along the wall and bedsheets when Eddie had stumbled through in his haste to get away from the madman.

“Oh,” the comedian quickly went to Eddie’s side, taking his hand in his. “It’s okay, Eds. We cleaned it up, and you don’t have to go in there anyway. I’ve got my room we can share.”

Of course. Eddie should have thought about that. Richie wouldn’t have kept his room after all that, and they definitely wouldn’t have gone into separate rooms. Made more sense that Richie had kept his own, and moved Eddie’s things there. He felt relieved, glad that he didn’t have to revisit the place.

Richie tugged him along up the stairs, past his old room, and down to the end of the hall. As soon as Richie opened the door, Eddie’s eyes widened. His boyfriend turned to him sheepishly, because he was getting old and had a terrible memory, and he’d forgotten that he’d left his room in an utter mess.

“Richie, what the fuck happened in here?”

Richie didn’t know whether to tell him the truth, that he was still a big slob, or make up a lie that someone had broken in and decided to toss his dirty clothes everywhere and leave sweet wrappers and muddy shoes on the bed.

“I was in a rush?” he said, not believing himself. He was an awful liar.

“Thank God we’re not staying.” Eddie mumbled as he picked up a shirt that was hanging off the desk chair, cringing at the stink.

He tossed it right at Richie who flung his hands up in surprise, catching it before it could drape over his face. He made his own grossed out expression as the waft of it reached his nostrils. It really did stink.

“Sure you don’t want to stay?” Richie asked Eddie as he added the shirt to his pile of dirty washing in the corner, trying to find a bag to stick them all in. “We can stay an extra night if you want.”

“Hell no.” Eddie said firmly, noticing his own suitcases by the edge of the bed. He went over to them with his bag, unzipped one case, and chucked his bag inside. Richie had probably packed everything anyway, and he really couldn’t be assed to unload the contents. “I don’t want to be in this town a minute longer, Rich.”

Richie nodded, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to get out of there himself. They’d been there for too long, way too long, with the events of a few weeks back lingering in the back of their minds. The sooner they got their butts out of there, the better.

“I’ll get my stuff together as quick as I can,” Richie told the younger man, as he joined Eddie on the end of the bed. Eddie, without a thought, let his head droop onto Richie’s shoulder, and just about moulded into his side as the bigger man wrapped him up in his arms. “We can stop off at the diner in town if you want?”

“Mmm,” Eddie hummed, smiling to himself as he felt Richie plant a kiss atop his head. “Do they still do that cookie dough ice cream I always liked?”

“Yep,” Richie said, “I’ll get you as much as you want.”

Eddie laughed softly, feeling himself drift off. “Don’t tell my mom.”

Richie laughed with him, and nodded, even though he couldn’t see. “Your secrets safe with me.”

With Richie’s shoulder being so comfortable, and after a not so great nights sleep, Eddie may have passed out for a few minutes on the bed. Luckily he didn’t wake when his boyfriend laid him down gently, and got on with his packing. He must have been out cold because he didn’t even flinch when Richie got all their things together, and bit by bit got all the suitcases, bags and bits and bobs into the car. Took a bit of time to even get him to wake up when it was time to go, the promise of ice cream and a nice, cosy blanket to wrap himself in in the car was enough to get Eddie back on his feet.

Surprisingly, the lady who owned the townhouse was actually at the desk that morning, and bid them farewell. The couple didn’t even glance back when they walked out the door, and got into the car, Richie stepping on the gas like he was on the run. And within minutes they were at the ice cream shop in the town centre, the two getting the biggest tubs of every flavour they could fit in, just because, well, they deserved it after everything they’d been through. Sugar rush be damned.

They’d decided on eating the desserts in the car, trying their best not to get any of the dairy on the seats, because Richie didn’t fancy paying extra to the rental company for ice cream damage. It was relaxing to just sit there, snacking on the best dessert in Derry, and watch people as they passed by. Although, Richie’s running commentary on each one was starting to drive Eddie up the wall.

“Oh, there goes Mr. Posh git.” Richie pointed at a man in a suit with his spoon, “He’s on his way to an important meeting with all his posh friends, who are going to discuss pointless paperwork and get paid for sitting on their asses.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Bet he’s just a salesman. Who the fuck gets paid a shit ton in Derry, Richie.”

The comedian hummed, shoving a scoop of his strawberry ice cream in his mouth. He made a good point. “Bet he’s friends with that lady over there though,” he said, as a woman crossed the street. She had a tight-fitting pink dress on, with pearls the size of her eyeballs, and heels that click and clacked loud enough to be heard from inside the car. “Miss Desperate housewife over there probably spends hours cleaning, eats leaf salad, has a gazillion chihuahuas, and paints her nails to match her underwear.”

Eddie laughed at that one, because he could actually see that happening. The grim look on that woman’s face looked like it was stuck there. “At least she keeps her house clean, Mr. I throw my dirty underwear wherever there’s room.”

Richie snorted, “I’ll have you know, my underwear likes being thrown around.”

“It told you that, did it?” Eddie smiled into his spoonful of mint ice cream.

“Yes,” Richie told him, putting on his most serious voice. “I always talk to my underwear, it’s why I lost my sanity.”

Eddie chuckled, shaking his head. He flicked his spoon in Richie’s direction, sending droplets of his dessert flying and landing right on the older man’s face. Richie flinched back in surprise, his lips turning up into a smile, as Eddie laughed at his success.

“That’s going to stain you know,” Richie joked, “You’d better get that off before my skin turns green.”

Eddie put down the last remnants of his ice cream on the dashboard, before he picked up one of the napkins they’d swiped in the parlour. Getting to work, he leaned across the seat and gently rubbed away each dot of the sweet dessert on Richie’s face, as the other man watched his every move with that goofy smile on his face.

“Wait a second,” Eddie said then, tossing the napkin into the backseat. “Missed a spot.”

“Yeah?” Richie asked, seeing Eddie lean towards him even further. And he had a faint idea of what he was up to. “Better get it then, just encase.”

“I’m on it.” Eddie grinned.

Their lips came together in a sweet, sweet kiss. Literally. When Eddie traced his tongue along Richie’s bottom lip, he could taste the strawberry. And when Richie deepened the kiss, their tongues meeting, he could taste every single flavour. The strawberry, the vanilla, the chocolate, and cookie dough. Richie moaned as Eddie pulled him further in by the back of the neck, scrapping his nails across his skin, and into his hair.

It didn’t take long before they had to pull apart, and they were both panting, needing air. Richie even felt dizzy, like he’d been turning in circles, his mind practically out of it. It was either the best kiss of his life, or he was getting really old.

“Holy fuck.” He breathed out, as Eddie ran his hand through his hair one more time. “Fucking hell, Eds. If we weren’t in the middle of town, I would ravish the shit out of you right now!”

“Down boy.” Eddie laughed softly, giving Richie a quick peck on the lips before sitting back. “Wait until later.”

Richie grinned, excitement evident in his eyes. “You tease me, you horrid, horrid man.”

Eddie smirked, “Don’t get too excited, I’m not having sex with you if your apartment looks anything like your townhouse room.”

Richie’s jaw dropped. He didn’t see that one coming. “I have a balcony?”

“Richie!” Eddie scoffed, as the older man beamed at his own joke. “Seriously though, your apartment’s clean, right?”

“Well,” Richie hummed, thinking of all the dirty socks and underwear Eddie would find underneath his bed. Not to mention the dust bunnies he’d had as pets for the last few years. “Define clean.”

“Knew it.” Eddie snorted. Ten points to him. “I swear you had the most disgusting bedroom in the whole of Maine when we were kids.”

“Hey, my room was vintage. And so is my apartment. Month old fruit in my fruit bowl, a dusty carpet that hasn’t been hoovered in about six months, some nice mothballs in the closet.” Richie argued, sounding like he was protesting his point. Eddie just gagged at the thought. “It’s like a museum.”

“Hell no,” his boyfriend grimaced. “I’m cleaning the shit out of it when I get there, mark my words.”

Richie chuckled, imagining Eddie in an apron, pink gloves and a big feather duster. “I swear I do clean sometimes. I haven’t cleaned for a while because I was going to move to LA.”

“You want to move to LA?” Eddie asked him, changing the subject completely, having not heard anything about it before. “Since when?”

“Well, uh, since about a few months ago.” Richie explained with a shrug, sticking his empty ice cream tub in the carrier bag by Eddie’s feet. “My life in Chicago wasn’t exactly perfect.”

“What?” Eddie frowned, “Richie, you said you loved living there.”

Richie turned to his boyfriend and looked just a teeny tiny bit guilty. “I may have lied.”

Eddie huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Seriously? Why would you lie about that, Rich? What’s going on?”

“I didn’t want you to know uh...” Richie took a deep breath, and decided to just tell him. “My career hasn’t been doing well.” He admitted.

Eddie looked as confused as he could be, “But... you’re a famous comedian, Rich, you said you’ve just come out of some tours and everything.” He said, thinking back to the conversation they’d had the night they’d been reunited, swapping life stories, and making up for lost time.

“Yeah, that didn’t last long.” Richie shrugged, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I wrote my own stuff at the start and managed myself, but uh, since I’ve had someone else doing my writing for me and have a manager who’s as dull as a brick wall, it’s not going too good.”

“Why do you want to move to LA?”

“Better opportunities,” he continued, getting comfy before starting up the car. “Think Chicago’s had enough of me. I’ve already told my manager I want out, and I had my eye on a new one in LA who would let me write my own shit.”

Eddie nodded in understanding, but couldn’t fathom one thing. “Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”

Richie sighed, with another shrug of the shoulders. “Wasn’t important, what with a killer clown trying to murder us and shit.”

“It is important, dumbass.” Eddie huffed, smacking his arm hard. Richie flinched, rubbing at the sore spot.

“What was that for?” he screeched.

“You’re an idiot.” Eddie simply said, “If you want to move to LA then do it!”

“But,” Richie began, wondering where this conversation was headed. He really hadn’t thought it would be a big deal. All he’d been thinking about was getting Eddie home, and settled in. Not once thinking about his past plans to move to LA. “You need to settle first, Eds. You need time to heel up and-,”

“Oh, for fucks sake, Tozier.” Eddie almost growled, “I’m fine! Moving to another state isn’t going to kill me, dipshit. I already told you, I’m going where you’re going, Chicago, LA, fucking space! If this is where you want to go, we’ll go. Besides, Ben, Bev and Bill live there too, _and_ I can probably find a job somewhere easily, it’s not a problem for me. Got that?”

Richie probably looked like an absolute wuss at that moment as his eyes started to tear up, but damn, he was losing it. So, instead of causing a scene and declaring his undying love very loudly for the beautiful man in front of him, he decided to be more subtle. Eddie looked at him in confusion, before Richie was grabbing him by his face and kissing the life out of him. Eddie yelped in surprise, sighing into the kiss as he felt Richie’s hand slide into his hair this time, and his teeth graze his bottom lip.

When Richie pulled back from lack of air, he kept a hold of Eddie, and pecked him on the end of his nose. “Did I ever mention how much I really fucking love you?”

Eddie smiled, “Just a few times.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Carry on.” Eddie grinned, earning a laugh from his boyfriend.

“I didn’t want to bother you with all my crap,” Richie said, “You sure it’s okay with you?”

“Yes,” Eddie said, resting his hands atop of the older mans. He gave him a quick kiss on the lips just for extra measures. “I want to be wherever you are.”

Richie kissed him again, sighing in relief. He was sure it would stress Eddie out, knowing he wanted to move even further from New York, having to get all his stuff packed and take it to Chicago, then having to do it all over again to get to LA. But, turns out, Eddie wouldn’t actually mind doing all that, as long as Richie was happy. They weren’t in a hurry anyway.

They didn’t talk about it after that. The couple spent their eight hour car journey bickering about which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was the best (Eddie preferred Leonardo due to his level-headedness and maturity, while Richie liked Mikey, because, well, childish and goofy, and “pizza, Eds, he loves _pizza_!”), they also chatted about their favourite movies, how much they both hated technology sometimes, and why coffee was way better than tea. It was beyond random, but it passed the time.

Eddie also took some time to get some naps in, between bathroom break stops, and a couple of drive throughs to get some grub, he couldn’t stop himself from letting his eyes slip shut and drifting into dreamland. Not to mention his pain meds tended to knock him out like a punch to the face. Richie didn’t mind, he was happy his other half was getting the rest he needed, and he was occupied enough with the weird-ass podcasts about aliens and other planets on the radio.

Before they knew it, they were approaching New York. The tall, twinkling buildings of the city stood out against the dark veil of sky in the distance, the full moon shining bright like it were looking down on them. Luckily, they could avoid the hustle and bustle of the city itself, and not be stuck in traffic, by going around the outskirts. Eddie’s house was just outside the city, in a nice, cosy suburb. As they approached said suburb, Eddie wanted to bolt the other way.

“If we turn back now,” Eddie said, as they drove down a quiet street. “She’ll never know we were here.”

Richie chuckled, just about feeling his boyfriend’s anxiety radiating off him like a burning fire. “Eds, you were on the phone with her a couple of hours ago, there’s no turning back now. She knows you’re coming.”

Eddie groaned, slithering down in his seat. “Thank God you’re here, I don’t think I’d be able to cope on my own.”

“Got to stick up for yourself, Eddie.” Richie said, turning a corner. He reached over to give Eddie’s hand a tight squeeze. “Just like you did as a kid, remember that?”

Eddie smiled at the memory. Throwing his pills at his mother’s feet, and running out the door to help his friends had been the best thing he’d ever done. Too bad he’d forgotten all about it after leaving Derry, turning back into the good little boy that his mother wanted him to be, and was basically a puppet on strings, his every move controlled by her.

“Maybe it’s a good thing I’m finally getting away from her.” He thought out loud. “I went to the University she chose, took the job she wanted me to have, took useless pills to keep her happy.” He sighed heavily, not believing his own words. “Jesus, what is _wrong_ with me?”

“Eddie,” Richie said, tone serious. If there was one thing he hated, it was Eddie bringing himself down. “No talk of all that now, okay? We’re going to your mom’s house, and you are going to tell her straight. You are going to stick up for yourself, and not let her control you anymore. You are going to tell her you’re leaving tomorrow to come live with me, and she can stick her stupid placebos right up her big, fat, squishy butt ho-,”

“Okay, okay.” Eddie cut in, cringing at the mere thought of Richie’s words. “I get it, you dick. That’s gross.”

Richie grinned, glad he could change the subject so easily. “I bet your mom’s ass is just as fine as it used to be. All round and squeezable.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Eddie huffed, “It was a bad idea bringing you here after all.”

“Au contraire, my love.” Richie smiled goofily, turning down Bakers Street, Eddie’s house just seconds away. “Tonight is going to be _so_ much fun.”

Eddie didn’t think so when they stopped outside his house. Before he could even get out of the car, he saw the curtains to the front room sway, a light in the hallway being switched on, and the front door swinging open. He heard his mother yelling before he saw her. She appeared in the doorway in her snuggly fit, pink dressing gown, huge, fluffy slippers on her feet, and curlers in her grey hair.

“Fucking hell.” Eddie sighed loudly, watching as his mother waved frantically at him, shuffling down the porch steps. “Here we go.”

“Are those bunny slippers?” Richie laughed, squinting and trying to see past Eddie to get a better look. “Those are fucking bunny slippers, Eds!”

“I’m going to kill you.” Eddie glared at the older man who was in a fit of giggles, he opened the car door and flung it open.

As soon as he’d stepped out of the car and stood up, he was being engulfed by his mother’s entire body. He just about got the wind knocked out of him, as she crushed him in her embrace, swinging him around like he were a ragdoll.

“My Eddie bear!” She squealed, planting sloppy, wet kisses to his cheek. Eddie cringed at every one, wanting nothing but to get out the disinfectant and scrub his face with it. “My baby boy, oh you’re here, my little Eddie! Welcome home!”

“Mom!” Eddie breathed out, his chest starting to throb in pain as his mother squished the life out of him. “My chest, mom. Wounded, remember?”

“Oh, no!” Sonia gasped, horrified by the statement. She jumped back like she’d been electrocuted, patting Eddie’s shoulders like it would help. “Are you alright? Did you get any medicine for the pain? Is it fully healed now? Shall I get you something?”

“Mom, I’m fine.” Eddie said. Rubbing his chest lightly to sooth the throbbing, he was just about to tell her to calm the fuck down, when her eyes widened so far her eyeballs looked like they were about to pop out. Eddie could see she was looking behind him, and he turned around to see why.

Richie grinned cheerfully as he leaned on the roof of the car, sending Sonia a wave. “Hey, Mrs. K!” he said happily, “Long time no see!”

Sonia’s face contorted into one of pure anger, lips pursed and cheeks boiling red. “What is _he_ doing here?”

Eddie sighed, and wanted to throw a damn shoe right at Richie’s forehead. “Mom, we need to talk inside, okay?”

His mother scoffed and was ready to argue, but Eddie ignored her, and slammed the passenger door shut, moving to the back to grab his toiletries. He only needed those, as he had plenty of clothes to choose from in the house.

“Eddie!” Sonia squeaked, moving her gaze from Eddie leaning across the back seat, to Richie slinging his backpack over his shoulder and shutting the driver’s door. “What is going on? Tell me, right this instant!”

“I will, mom!” Eddie said tiredly, hoping to God his mother’s annoyingly high-pitched squealing wouldn’t bring any attention to them from the neighbours. “Just come inside, and I’ll tell you.”

“ _He’s_ not coming inside!” Sonia practically spat, glaring at said man as he came around to stand next to Eddie. “You’re not welcome here!”

“You wound me, Mrs. K.” Richie sighed dramatically, not taking any of this bullshit seriously.

Eddie rolled his eyes at him though, wishing he’d keep his mouth shut and not wind up his mother anymore than she already was. “Mom, Richie’s staying over.”

“No he is absolutely not!”

Eddie growled, frustration getting the better of him. He did not want to do this outside, he really didn’t. So, he took Richie’s hand in his and lead him across the grass, and up the steps to the house. Sonia all the while shuffling in her pink slippers after them, calling out her son’s name. There was no doubt the neighbours could hear her voice.

Eddie thankfully got the two of them inside, kicking off his shoes and setting his and Richie’s things on the stairs near the entrance. They waited for Sonia to make her way up the porch steps, almost tripping in her haste to get to them, her curlers in her hair now hanging down loosely from all the wobbling and flailing she was doing.

“Hey, Eds?” Richie nudged his boyfriend, as he gazed around the hallway, and into the living room. “Has your house not been touched since the fifties?”

Eddie answered with a glare, but quietly agreeing. His mother was too lazy to do anything to it when she bought it from an old woman who was moving into a retirement home.

“Eddie!” Sonia inhaled heavily as she slammed the front door shut behind her, putting a hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. “What is the meaning of this? Why is he here? And why are you holding hands!” she almost screamed the last part, making the two jump back in surprise.

Eddie looked down at their entwined hands, only now realising he hadn’t let Richie’s hand go. He was about to do just that, then changed his mind, because now wasn’t the time for giving in. Now was the time to stick up for himself, just like Richie had said in the car. It was time to make his own decisions, and let his mother know that he was not her little boy anymore. He was finally doing what he wanted to do.

“Mom,” Eddie took a deep breath, feeling Richie’s hand squeeze his in support. “Richie and I are back together.”

It was as silent as a graveyard for about five seconds, the couple sharing a look as Sonia’s blank expression changed into a smile. “This is a joke, right?”

Eddie shook his head, “No, mom. I’m serious.”

“Eddie,” Sonia said, as calmly as she could. Which was even scarier than her exploding. “Eddie, my dear, what is going on? You haven’t seen this man in years!”

“I know, mom. But, when we met again it all just…” he looked up at Richie, who smiled down at him. “It all came flooding back. I still love Richie, and I want to be with him.”

“Be with him?” Sonia repeated, everything starting to click into place. “What do you mean _be_ with him?”

Eddie could see the clogs turning in her head, and knew that once he said it, she really will explode. “I’m moving to Chicago in the morning to live with Richie.”

“WHAT?”

“And there it is.” Richie mumbled, as Sonia began pacing the hallway, curlers now falling out of her hair like apples from a tree.

“You can’t leave!” She just about screamed, like she were telling off a child. “You belong here, Eddie! This is your home! I need to look after you, like I have all your life!”

“Mom!” Eddie cut in, stopping her in her tracks. All her shouting and balling had flipped a switch in him, and he really wasn’t in the mood for it. He just wanted to get it over with, go to bed with Richie, and move on with his life in the morning. “I’m forty years old!”

“Thirty nine!” Sonia corrected, looking smug.

Eddie continued, ignoring her remark. “I can’t stay here forever, mom. I hate my job, I’ve been taking pills when there’s nothing wrong with me, I have no friends here because they’re all pompous dickheads! And I’m living with my mom!”

“That’s because I can take care of you, Eddie-bear.” Sonia said a little bit softer, looking sorry for herself. “What about me? What will I do?”

Eddie sighed, knowing she’d use that card on him. “Mom, you’ll be fine. You’ve got your sister close by, and the neighbours will help out if you need anything. And I’m still on the end of the phone if you need to talk.”

“What if _he_ can’t look after you?” Mrs. Kaspbrak sneered at Richie, who didn’t seem impressed. “He got you hurt, Eddie! It’s his fault, and those damn friends of yours! They always were a bad influence on you! He can’t take care of you like I can!”

“It was _not_ his fault!” Eddie said with so much anger in his voice, his mother was taken aback. He held himself together though, because if there was one thing he wouldn’t take, it was his mother using Richie to get her way. “Don’t bring what happened to me into this, it was an accident, and I’m alive because of Richie and my friends. It’s because of Richie I got through it.”

Richie smiled at the younger man’s words, pulling his hand up and kissing his knuckles. He could see just by Eddie’s sagged shoulders, and droopy eyes that he just wanted to go to sleep. He was too exhausted for all this, he didn’t need his mother shoving all that dumbassery down his throat. Richie decided to take it upon himself, and do what he could to reassure Eddie’s mom that Eddie moving out was the best thing. Richie, for the first time ever, spoke to Mrs. Kaspbrak sincerely.

“Mrs. Kaspbrak,” he said, as said woman looked his way, expecting a joke or some silly explanation. Eddie too, who was surprised by Richie’s next words. “I know you’re worried about Eddie’s well-being, you should be, he’s your son. But, this will be good for him. He can start a new life, get a job he likes, see his friends again, and enjoy being an independent adult.”

He let go off Eddie’s hand, to wrap his arm around his shoulders, all the while Eddie was staring up at him open mouthed. “I can promise you, I will take care of Eddie to the best of my abilities. I love your son more than anything in the world, and I’ll make sure he has the best life he can possibly have. I swear to you, Eddie’s going to be okay. He’s going to be safe.”

He wanted to add in that he wanted to drag Eddie away from her toxic, controlling personality. That she’d done nothing but harm him since he was a child, with her paranoia, her shielding Eddie from the outside world, shoving pills that he didn’t even need down his throat. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to keep Eddie as far away from her as possible, so that he could finally be free from her. But, that definitely wouldn’t have gone down well. And they’d probably be stuck in that hallway a lot longer.

Needles to say, what he had said had rendered the other two speechless. His gaze travelled from Eddie to his mom, both probably trying to decide whether this Richie was in fact a fraud.

“So, uh…” Richie began, cutting across the awkward silence. “Lovely weather we’re having, huh?”

Thank the lucky stars what Richie had said had actually gotten through to Mrs. Kaspbrak’s mushy brain, because all it took after Richie’s grand speech was Eddie telling her they’d be leaving early in the morning, and that he’d talk to her then, for her to dismiss them and make her way to the kitchen. Probably to dip into the jar of cookies, and bottle of alcohol she secretly stashed away in the cabinet. Which Eddie totally knew about, and had to laugh at the contradicting statements his mom always said about alcohol shortening your life.

So with that out of the way, for now, the couple dragged their feet up the stairs and into Eddie’s room. Richie was surprised, kind of, that Eddie’s room looked like it belonged in a different house. No grandma wallpaper and carpet, or curtains that looked like they’d been hanging since the dark ages. Just a nice, simple room, that had Eddie written all over it.

“Thanks, Richie.” Eddie said, as soon as he’d shut the door behind them.

Richie put his stuff down on an armchair near the window, and turned to his boyfriend. He held out his arms for Eddie, who was instantly drawn into his embrace. “I figured I’d better say something to shut her up.”

Eddie laughed into the taller man’s chest, “I think you gave my mom a seizure. She’s never heard you speak so seriously, ever!”

“Well,” Richie hummed, kissing Eddie’s forehead as he gazed up at him. “I have my moments.”

Eddie snorted, “Once in a blue moon.” He said, as Richie grinned cheekily, because Eddie wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Why’d the chicken cross the road?”

Eddie furrowed his brows in confusion, “What?”

“I’m telling a joke,” Richie declared, as Eddie rolled his eyes before letting out a quiet yawn into his palm. “My seriousness has worn out.”

“Hilarious.” Eddie mumbled, as he let his head fall back into Richie’s chest, hugging him tighter.

“Someone’s tired, huh?” Richie smiled to himself. Eddie was being too cute, he just wanted to wrap him up in a little bundle of blankets and let him sleep for days. “Bedtime, Mr. Kaspbrak.”

“Need a shower.” Eddie said, as Richie took him by the shoulders and pushed him towards the bed. “Clean my teeth too.”

“You had a shower this morning, a bloody long one.” Richie told him, as Eddie basically fell like a sack of potatoes onto the mattress. He chuckled, rummaging through his boyfriend’s things to get what he needed, before said boyfriend passed out where he was. “Here you go, princess. Go clean your teeth, and get your ass to bed.”

Eddie glared as he was yanked up again, “Don’t make me angry, nutsack.”

“Who are you, the Hulk?” Richie joked as Eddie left the room to use the bathroom, he soon followed behind once he’d gotten his own toiletries out.

It didn’t take long for them to slip into some pyjamas, clean their teeth (for four minutes exactly, because, “Richie, that’s the amount of time it takes to properly clean your teeth”) and then make themselves comfortable under the covers. Eddie sank into the mattress like he were falling into a cloud.

“Uuuurgh.” He groaned, listening to Richie fiddling beside him with something. “I’d forgotten how good this bed feels.”

“I think by the morning I’m going to be lost in it.” Richie replied, because his lower half was already getting sucked into it like a hoover. But he ignored it, and carried on carefully extracting a certain something from his backpack. “Don’t fall asleep yet, dude.”

Eddie just groaned some more in reply, he was pretty sure it was Richie that had told him he needed sleep. “If you want to have sex, I’m not going to be much help.”

Richie paused, “As tempting as that is, I actually have something for you.”

Eddie opened one eye to take a peek to his left, just about seeing Richie lit up by the dim bedside lamp. His boyfriend nudged him with his foot, trying to get him to sit up, which resulted in some more moaning and groaning from Eddie who gave in and pushed himself up. If he were being honest, he was kind of curious as to what Richie had. The only clue he got was a brown paper bag in the other man’s lap, which told him nothing. Not a damn thing. Which made him suspicious.

“Is there some kind of prank involved?” he asked, eyeing up the package.

Richie looked at him like he was delusional, which, okay, he couldn’t really blame him after the one-time Richie had put a fart bomb in one of Stan’s gym bags. “I can assure you, no pranks were involved in the making of this present.”

Eddie hummed, “Then what is it?”

“Here,” Richie handed it over, “Just open it up.” He said, eyes twinkling like a god damn cartoon character in excitement.

Eddie was surprised by the weight when he held it in his hands, it was much heavier than he’d expected, but it wasn’t too hefty. And it felt like some kind of shallow box, or a really big book. Nothing really gave anything away, so he just went for it, and slowly tore the brown paper right down the middle. As the gift was revealed bit by bit, Eddie’s smile grew bigger and bigger.

“Oh my god.” He whispered in awe, ripping away the paper now, and tossing it on the floor.

It was his inhaler, and Richie’s shirt. The one’s they’d kept when they’d last seen each other. The ones they’d known had been special all their lives, even though they had no idea where they’d come from, until they’d found each other again. And what made it even more special, was that they had been put inside a square frame, the shirt folded onto the back, with the inhaler pinned in place to the left of the border. Then, on the right to the inhaler, was one of the pictures Mike had given them weeks ago.

It was of the two of them, just thirteen years old, smiling goofily at the camera. One of Eddie’s favourite photos of the pair. Which made him tear up like a big baby, and laugh at how amazing, and stupidly romantic the whole gesture was.

“Do you like it?” Richie asked, sounding a tad anxious. Quite frankly he didn’t know if Eddie’s crying was a good thing or a bad thing, because at the minute his expression was hidden by his hand.

“Are you kidding me?” Eddie had to laugh, wiping away some tears on his cheeks before turning to his boyfriend. “Richie, this is the best fucking gift you’ve ever given me.”

Richie felt his chest deflate, “Thank god, I didn’t know if it was too cheesy or not. Is it too cheesy? I can take them out, and replace it with a picture of Bill?”

Eddie laughed, nudging him in the side. “Shut up, Tozier.”

Richie laughed along with him, brining Eddie into his arms as he continued to stare fondly at the present in his hand. “I wasn’t too sure which picture to choose, but I know you love this one. I do too.” He said, kissing atop of the smaller man’s head. “It was the first picture we took with my new camera.”

“Yeah,” Eddie smiled, tracing a hand down the picture, underneath the glass top. “I’m glad you picked this one.”

_“Eddie!”_

_“What?”_

_“What are you doing over here?” Richie asked curiously, as he plonked himself down on the ground next to the younger boy. “Why aren’t you in the lake with everyone else?”_

_Eddie shrugged, “Was waiting for you, you’re late.”_

_Richie grinned, throwing an arm around the other boy. “Aw, how sweet,” he said as Eddie just rolled his eyes, which seemed to be a habit of his around Richie. “I was late because my mom and dad got me an early birthday present. Check it out!”_

_He proceeded to take his backpack off his shoulders, and careful took out what was inside. A brand-new polaroid camera was in his hands, all shiny and unused. He held it out proudly to show Eddie, who had no clue about cameras, but knew this one must have cost a fortune._

_“What did you do to get that?” he snorted, “Wash the dishes for once?”_

_Richie chuckled, “Nah, dad had some money stashed away for my birthday. Cool, huh? Even better than Ben’s camera!”_

_“He’d agree to disagree.”_

_Richie smiled from ear to ear, beyond excited about his new play thing. “Hey, let’s take a picture!”_

_Eddie groaned, hiding his face in the crook of Richie’s neck as he pulled him against him. The older boy laughed as Eddie tried to avoid having his picture taken, especially when it was pointed right up to his face._

_“Come on, Eds!”_

_“No! I look like a zombie today!”_

_“Aw, don’t be stupid, you look cute!”_

_“No I don’t!” he mumbled into Richie’s shoulder, punching him in the leg for extra effect. “Shurup.”_

_Richie grinned, poking the hypochondriac in his side to get his attention. “We’ll do silly faces! Please? For me?”_

_Eddie could only huff as his boyfriend used the very rare magic word, and gave in just like that. So, the two made some silly faces, Richie took the shot, and it was the best picture they ever took._

“Look at your cute, little face.” Richie teased.

“Shut up,” Eddie told him, but couldn’t help but smile. “We look crazy.”

“Well, that’s not unusual.” Richie chuckled, pulling Eddie closer to kiss his cheek. “We were the craziest bunch in Derry.”

“And proud of it.” Eddie let out his own laugh, and gazed up at Richie with a smile. He took in the sight of the huge, dorky glasses, the curls of his hair sticking up at all ends, the wrinkles in his cheeks as he smiled back at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Richie replied, feeling the exact same overwhelming sensation that they were there together, safe, happy, ready to move on.

The comedian bent down a tad to press his lips against Eddies, surprised when the younger man held him firmly in place with a hand to the back of his neck, kissing him breathless. Within seconds it turned into one hell of a heated kiss, and before he knew it they were making out like a couple of horny teenagers in the back of a car.

Richie was quite taken back when Eddie decided to straddle his thighs, not once breaking the kiss. In fact, he pulled their bodies closer and began peppering kisses down Richie’s neck, sending the older man into overdrive. Maybe he was in the mood to get a little frisky after all.

“Mother fucking hell.” Richie gulped, as Eddie pulled back. “Please tell me we’re about to have sex?”

Eddie chuckled quietly, slipping his hand into Richie’s pants without warning and wrapping his hand around his half-hard dick in answer. The comedian groaned and let his head fall back onto the wall with a slight thud, seeing stars behind his eyelids as Eddie’s warm hand got to work. “Richie,” Eddie said right next to his ear, “We can have sex on one condition, you have to be very, _very_ quiet.”

Minutes later, as Eddie slid down onto Richie’s cock, he couldn’t control the moan that slipped past his lips. Thankfully, Eddie’s mom was actually passed out from too much whiskey and didn’t hear a thing.


End file.
